


Never Traditional

by xHookedonKillianx



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, POV First Person, Rewrite, repost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 06:23:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 82,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20869637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xHookedonKillianx/pseuds/xHookedonKillianx
Summary: This is a repost because I'm joining the 2019 Captain Swan Re-Write-A-Thon and will be rewriting.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first ever attempt at writing CS, I apologize for the first person POV

#  Chapter One

I tapped my pen on the arm of my chair as I stared at the clock on the station wall. I had a half an hour left until I could close up shop and go home and it seemed like it was taking forever. It had been two weeks since the snow queen was defeated and it had been completely quiet around town.

The first week was the worst; we were flooded with frantic calls from Belle about people harassing her at Gold's shop. Apparently, some of the town’s people had felt that since he was gone, they were allowed to take back their belongings from the Enchanted Forest that still resided in his shop

That was hard.

Poor Belle had to deal with a bunch of pissed off people on top of the sorrow for the loss of her husband. It took David and I, with the help of Killian, four whole days and a few arrests before it finally stopped, and that had been only after Belle agreed to do an inventory of what was in the shop and reach out to the people who owned something.

Ever since then, the few calls we did get into the station were normal, Leroy was drunk and acting out, one of the few Lost Boys that were still in town had vandalized something, or one the merry men had stolen from the grocery store. Apparently they still couldn't understand the concept of paying for their food.

Those were fun arguments to have.

A chill went down my spine when I thought about the reason why Gold had been banished.

_I almost lost him._

Gold had Killian's heart and had intended to kill him. I knew something was off with him but I would have never guessed that had been the reason. I remembered walking into that tower and seeing him on the ground in pain, it was the first time in my life I ever considered ending someone. That darkness was...

I shook my head; I couldn't let those thoughts into my head again. I had just gotten over the nightmares and in no way wanted them again.

***

_I woke up in a cold sweat with my heart pounding in my chest. The dream had seemed so real, so life like, my entire body shook._

_I had been too late to the clock tower and got there just in time to see Gold crush Killian's heart into dust._

M_y hands ran through my hair as I attempted to calm my heart. After a few moments, I finally lay back down and tried to go back to sleep._

He's alive, he didn't die.

_I squeezed my eyes shut, but the vision of the dust falling between Gold's fingertips kept running through my mind._

I have to make sure he's okay.

_I jumped out of bed, yanked my Uggs on and threw my jacket over my pajamas before I raced down the steps. I looked over toward my sleeping parent’s room and picked up my keys. I opened the door to the loft as quiet as possible and ran down to my car. I winced at how loud the car sounded in the dead of the night but could only find it in myself to care just slightly._

_It was a quick ride from the loft to Granny's and I had been so distracted, I almost forgot to put my car in park before I jumped out._

_I took the steps two at a time before I stood In front of Killian's door. I knocked twice but when I heard no movement on the other side, I started to bang._

_After a couple seconds, he still hadn't answered and my heart started to race again. I could feel the panic rise with every bang and it seemed like it had been ages before the door yanked open with a very pissed off, shirtless, pirate behind it._

_"The bloody hell.... Swan? Love? What's the matter? Did something happen?"_

_I let out a sigh of relief when I saw him, but it was in that same exact second, I realized how stupid I was. It was two in the morning and I had just raced across town to bang on his door and wake him up for no reason._

_"Emma?" Killian asked with concern as he took a step forward._

_His hair was flattened and his eyes, smudged with eyeliner, were puffy from sleep . The flannel pajama pants I had bought him hung low on his hips and his chest hair almost sparkled in the low light._

_"I'm sorry!" I breathed out. "Everything's fine, there's no emergency." Killian let out a sigh and put his cutlass down against the wall._

_I bit my lip and looked up at him shyly, "Can I come in?"_

_Killian stepped aside and opened the door for me without question. I walked into the room and looked around. It looked no different than the last time I had been there, except for a few extra books opened on the table, and a couple empty bottles of water._

_Part of me wanted to make a smart ass comment since he always boasted about how neat and tidy everything always had to be._

_I jumped when I felt a hand touch my arm. "Swan, are you okay?"_

_I closed my eyes and slumped myself into his arms. Killian wrapped himself around me and I relaxed in his warmth._

_"I'm sorry I woke you," I whispered as I pressed my ear to his chest._

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

_His heart was still there and it was still beating._

_"You'll never hear me complain about a beautiful princess banging on my door in the wee hours of the morning, lass."_

_I let out a soft chuckle and looked up at him. It was in that moment I realized I had never seen Killian like this._

_Whenever we saw each other, he was always ready for the day, even in Neverland, he had always woken before everyone else and was wide awake._

_He looked absolutely adorable._

_"What's the matter, sweetheart?"_

_I forced a smile. "Maybe I just missed you."_

_Killian smirked and gave me a peck on the nose before he spoke. "While that is always nice to hear, why don't we start with the truth?"_

_I let out another sigh and looked down at his bare chest. His necklace was intertwined with his chest hair and I reached up to play with the ring that hung next to the other charms to hide the fact that I wanted to feel his heart beat._

_"I had a nightmare. It's silly, I just... I had to make sure you were okay."_

_Killian nodded and we both stood there in silence for a few seconds before he kissed my forehead and took my hand in his good one. My eyes scrunched together in confusion as he led me toward his bedroom._

_"Let's get some sleep, love."_

_I hesitated for a second before I unzipped my jacket and placed it on the chair next to his bed. As I toed off my Uggs, I watched Killian unlock his hook and place it on his nightstand before he crawled into bed._

_I stood by the bed for a second and just stared. Killian and I had never shared a bed before, honestly, I had never shared a bed with any man, since Neal. Even during the fake year of memories, I had always left Walsh to go home to Henry._

_"Swan?"_

_I snapped out of my thoughts to see he had lifted the covers to invite me in. I clenched my fists to keep them from shaking and slowly crawled into the bed._

_Was I supposed to move closer? Did Killian like to cuddle or did he like his own space? I had never really enjoyed cuddling, Neal always ended up smothering me in my sleep and I would wake up scrunched in a ball fighting to breathe._

_Killian reached out and pulled me toward him and I tried not to tense up, but I failed. My left hand hovered over his stomach for a second before I finally placed it down._

_He let out a soft chuckle. "What's on your mind, love?"_

_I took a deep breath and bit my lip. I had just woke him up and he deserved the truth. "I haven't slept in the same bed with someone since Neal," I whispered._

_Killian's right arm moved up and he started to comb his fingers through my hair. "I haven't shared a bed with a woman for rest since Milah."_

_I moved my head slightly and looked up at him. I could just make out his features from the moonlight that shown in through the windows._

_"What a pair we make." Killian smiled. "Aye."_

_I leaned up and kissed his lips softly before I laid my head back down on his chest. Seconds later, all my tension fell away when I heard that familiar, beautiful sound under my ear._

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

_I wrapped my arm around his waist and snuggled closer. We both lay in silence as he continued to comb his fingers through my hair._

_My hand brushed against his left arm and I felt the leather from his brace. "Do you always sleep with your brace on?"_

_"Only when I feel I might need it quickly to defend myself." I smiled. "Well, if anything happens, I'll protect you."_

_Killian kissed my forehead but still didn't move to remove it. I pushed myself up to look at him. "I don't mind, Killian. You can remove it."_

_His jaw clenched and he gave a slight nod before he moved to sit up, which forced me to sit up fully. I watched as he loosened the straps around his forearm before he removed the brace and placed it on the nightstand next to his hook._

_When he laid down, I snuggled back into his chest and pulled his arm up to his stomach and rested my hand on his stump._

_We laid there for a few moments before I finally decided to ask what I wanted since he invited me to stay._

_"Aren't you going to ask me what it was about?"_

_Killian used his scared arm to lift my hand up to his lips and give it a soft kiss before he placed it back on his chest over his heart._

_"It's still only beating for you."_

_I fell asleep with his fingers in my hair and my thumb rubbing soft circles on his scared flesh._

_The next morning I woke to the sound of my alarm going off on my phone. I groaned and buried my head further into the pillow. My eyes shot open when I heard a chuckle. I lifted my head and looked to my left to see Killian lying next to me on his side with a smile on his face._

Right, nightmare, came to Hook's room.

_Apparently at some point in the night I had moved to lie on my stomach while Killian turned on his side and wrapped his arm around my waist. He wasn't smothering me, he had given me the space I needed, and simply threw his arm over me to keep us connected._

_It was perfect._

_The beeping continued until I pushed myself up and reached for my coat. I turned the alarm off and put the phone down before I turned back to my pirate._

_"You are a most definitely a beautiful sight to see when I open my eyes in the morning, love."_

_I snorted and snuggled further into the pillow while I inched over to him as his left arm hooked around my waist and pulled me closer._

_"How long have you been awake?"_

_Killian smiled. "A captain always rises with the sun, princess."_

_I closed my eyes and smiled. "Well, this princess only wakes up after hitting the snooze button a couple different times."_

_He chuckled and kissed my forehead._

_I opened my eyes and reached up to play with the charms on his necklace which caused my knuckles to brush his chest._

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

_"This is nice, though," I admitted with a blush._

_I looked up at him through my eyelashes to see him smile down at me. "Aye."_

_I eyes moved back down and I froze when I saw what was on his chest. I hadn't noticed it the night before since it had been dark, but in the morning light, it was clear as day._

_My fingers hovered over it. "Wh...What’s this?"_

_Killian went tense and I could feel his eyes burning holes on the top of my head. He gulped before he answered, "It's a tattoo."_

_"When did you get it?"_

_My fingers started to trace the outline. It was a tattoo of a beautiful, white swan landing in the ocean, causing the water to ripple, and on the bottom of the swan, in its feathers, written in black cursive ink, was Emma._

_"Back in the Enchanted Forest," he whispered and I looked up at him. "It was during the year I thought I would never see you again."_

_My eyes looked back and forth between his own. I had no idea what to say. While I lived in New York, with no memory of him or my family, he had gone out and branded his skin with my name so that there was no chance he could ever forget._

_I wanted to tell him right then, I wanted to tell him so bad, but part of me was still completely terrified. So I did the only thing I could think of, I grabbed his face and kissed him with everything I had, and I hoped, he knew what I was trying to say._

***

A blush still formed on my face when I thought about the looks on my parents faces when I walked into the loft later that morning to get ready for work. My mother's grin was almost as wide as her face and my father looked like he wanted to explode.

After that, I decided if the nightmare happened again, even though falling asleep in Killian's arms had been amazing, I would save myself the embarrassment and just call him. When I told him to make sure his phone was on, he smirked and made a comment about how I was always welcomed to share his bed, but agreed.

Two nights later, after I had spent nearly the entire day in Gold's shop with Belle, I called and woke him at almost three thirty in the morning. He stayed on the phone with me until I fell asleep.

It wasn't as good as being with him, but I figured it was better than the 'walk of shame that really wasn't' the next morning.

Killian had thought otherwise, because the very next night, after I said goodnight to my parents, I walked into my room to find him there.

***

_"What are you doing here?" I asked in a whisper as I made sure the door was closed._

_He had left to go back to Granny's about an hour before but there he was, lounging on my bed with his arms behind his head, legs crossed, and a smirk on his face._

_"Well, the way I see it is, we can either both continue to go the way we have been, or we can just cut out the part where we wake up in the middle of the night and just go to sleep together."_

_I pressed my lips together to try and hide my smile and crossed my arms. "Mhm, I'm sure your intentions are completely honorable."_

_Killian's smirk grew as he wiggled his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes and picked up the nearest pillow and threw it at him._

_"Henry is down stairs..."_

_He chuckled and picked up the thrown pillow. "I know, love. That's why I didn't ask you back to my room."_

_"And if David finds you in here he's going to skin you alive." "And that's why I came in through the window."_

_I bit my lip to hide my giddy smile. I moved toward the bed and kneeled in front of him. "So you decided to sneak into my room like some teenager?"_

_He leaned forward._

_"Best be quiet then, don't want to get in trouble!" He whispered before he reached out with his hand and tickled my side._

_I giggled like a school girl._

***

Ever since then, we never spent a night away from each other. If Henry was at the loft, Killian snuck into my room through the window, we fell asleep in each other's arms, and I woke to a kiss on my forehead before he snuck back out in the morning. But if Henry stayed at Regina's, I slept with him at Granny's and my nightmares never returned.

We still hadn't had sex. That didn’t mean it wasn’t on my mind. But there was something about Killian, I didn’t want it to be just another thing that happened, another step we took. I wanted it to be so much more, to mean so much more.

Sex had always been easy.

I scratched an itch and moved on, but with Killian, I was opening myself up to him in a way I hadn't done with anyone since Neal.

And it felt amazing.

But there had been times I swore we both wanted it to happen, that if we hadn’t gotten interrupted, we would have, but it seemed like we were cursed.

The first time had been in the loft, Killian and I had spent the evening in after he had gotten his heart back from Gold. The loft was empty because my parents had decided to take a stroll with Neal to help him sleep while Henry decided to stay with Regina since he had just found the Author’s house. It started innocent enough, we were cuddling together on the couch when he gave me a kiss. The kiss then began to turn into something more and we pulled away to just stare at each other.

The next thing I knew, Killian had picked me up bridal style and took me up the stairs to my room. He had just put me down on my feet and leaned in to kiss me when Henry barreled through the loft claiming he had forgotten his laptop and that my parents weren’t far behind him.

Killian and I just gave each other a small smile and never mentioned it again.

The second time had been one of the nights I stayed with him in his room at Granny’s.

I’m almost positive he had it planned. When I walked into the room, it was illuminated by candlelight and there was soft classical music playing on the stereo. When I asked him what it was about, he simply said he wanted a romantic night alone with me.

We started to kiss heavily on his bed and just as his hand reached under my shirt to pull it off, there was a knock at Killian's door. It was Ruby, she had come up to tell me Sleepy had fallen asleep while riding his bike and crashed into Granny’s fence.

We spent the next two hours listening to Granny bitch that he shouldn’t be allowed to do anything but walk since he couldn’t be sure he could stay awake.

By the time Killian and I made it back to his room, we were both too exhausted to even get undressed let alone finish where we left off.

After that, neither one of us even tried. Killian didn't seem bothered, so I just did the same and acted like I wasn’t about to combust.

I let out a sigh and picked up the pencil holder that sat on my desk. It was round and held a mixture of six or seven pens and pencils. I pressed my lips together and leaned my head back. I lifted the pencil holder and placed it on my forehead. After a second, I pulled my hands away slowly and smirked as I balanced the holder on my head.

"Bored, love?"

I let out a yelp and jumped in surprise, which caused the holder to fall down my chest and the contents to fall to the floor.

When I looked up, I saw Killian standing in the doorway trying to hold back his laughter, My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I placed the holder back on the desk.

"You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that," I mumbled. "You should make it known you're coming... You could stomp, or ya know, yodel."

Killian raised an eyebrow with an amused grin. I rolled my eyes and leaned down to pick up the fallen contents of the holder. When I was finished, Killian approached to give me a soft kiss.

"How was your day?" I asked.

Killian let out a sigh and sat down on the edge of my desk. "Belle and I still have some research to do; hopefully we'll be able to find something soon."

I stood and reached up to the play with his necklace.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump_. "You'll figure it out, I know you will." "You're more optimistic than myself."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Blame my parents."

Killian gave me a smile and I started to shut down the station. "You coming over tonight?"

"Aye, your mother called me on my talking phone and said she was making dinner."

I rolled my eyes at his choice of words, it had been almost six months since I had gotten Killian a cell phone and he still insisted on calling it a 'talking phone'.

It was a short walk from the station to my parent’s loft, but I snuggled close to Killian anyway. He always made me feel warmer than any jacket I owned.

We kept the conversation light as we walked and before long we were walking into the loft. "Oh, Killian, thank god you're here," my mother breathed when we walked in.

"Wow, Mom. Hello to you, too."

Mary Margret pressed her lips at me and put her hands on her hips. "The cabinet in the bathroom fell and your father thinks he can get it back on by himself. He's in there balancing it on his arm while trying to use a drill gun. I've already heard something crash twice. Killian will you please go in there and help my stubborn husband?"

I heard Killian chuckle beside me. "Of course, milady."

I smiled as he gave me a kiss on the cheek before he moved toward the bathroom "How was your day, dear?"

I took my jacket off and hung it on the hook. "Nothing too exciting. Leroy started a fight with Whale again."

Mary Margret huffed in annoyance. "Grumpy will never learn."

I walked over to the bassinet and looked down at my brother. He currently held a rubber ring in his hand as he waved it back and forth. I put my hand on his stomach and rubbed.

"Hey there, big guy. Drive Mom and Dad nuts today?"

"Your father is the one driving me nuts, I appreciate you giving him the time off, Emma, I really do, but if he tries to fix one more thing around this loft, I might have to grab my bow and arrow."

"I heard that!" David called out from the bathroom.

"What needs to be fixed?" I asked as I walked up to the island and watched my mother finish up with dinner.

"Oh, everything, according to him. He borrowed tools from Marco today and decided to go on a fixing spree. Honestly, there's only so much a wife can take."

"I was obviously right, did you see how that cabinet fell?" David asked as he and Killian emerged from the bathroom.

"Yes, darling, it had nothing to do with the fact that you decided to check if the screws were tight." Killian and I exchanged a look as he sat down next to me.

"Emma, will you please tell your mother I know what I'm doing?" "Will you please tell your father that he should stick to his day job?"

"Oh boy, I'm just loving being the referee between you two," I answered sarcastically as Killian chuckled.

My mother rolled her eyes as David asked me how work was.

"It was fine. Nothing has happened so I didn't even reroute the calls tonight. I figured they could just leave a message."

"Oh! Speaking of messages, there's one for you on the answering machine. I saved it for you."

My brows went together in confusion. "Seriously? From who? Everyone who needs to get a hold of me knows to call me at the station."

I walked over to the answer machine as my father spoke. "I didn't recognize the name."

I shrugged and pressed play on the answering machine as I picked up the mail that was on the table and started to leaf through it.

"Ugh, yes this message is for Emma Swan. My name is Oliver Queen..." My hands froze and my body went stiff.

"I tried calling her old number but it was out of service. I found this number and I was hoping this might help me locate her. I will be at work until eight o’clock tonight. I’ll try calling again after work, if Emma can call me before then, I can be reached at…”

My jaw dropped as he rattled off a number before the message ended. I stared at the machine in shock before Killian's voice filtered into my brain.

"Swan?"

I looked back to see three concerned faces staring at me. "Who was it, sweetie?"

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I hadn't spoken to Oliver since I first moved to Storybrooke almost three years before. If he was trying to reach me, it had to be important.

"Emma?" David asked again.

But before I could answer the phone started to ring.

I looked down and saw on the caller id it was, in fact, Oliver, but the portable phone wasn't in the cradle.

"Where's the phone?"

Both Mary Margaret and David moved to search while Killian looked at me with confusion. After a couple more rings I let out a sigh and hit the speaker button on the cradle.

"Oliver?"

"Emma? Holy shit, is it really you?"

I let out a chuckle. "Ollie... What are you... How...?" "Damn, it's good to hear your voice again, gorgeous."

My eyes immediately shot up to Killian and I winced. His jaw ticked and his fist was clenched. "Ollie, give me a second while I grab the phone and take you off of speaker."

"Sure thing, darling."

Killian huffed at his words as David handed me the portable.

"Ollie? Yeah, just give me one more sec..." I said as I held the phone to my ear.

I turned back to the group of people in the kitchen and spoke, "I'm just going take this upstairs, I'll be right down."

I raced up the steps and tried to ignore that hurt look that appeared on Killian's face.


	2. Chapter 2

#  Chapter Two

"Okay, Ollie, I'll call you soon. Bye."

I hung up the phone and stared at it. Before the screen went blank, I saw the numbers read 27:42.

We had been on the phone for almost a half an hour while my mother, father and Killian sat down stairs probably in complete confusion.

I tried to think of what I was going to tell them, but I was still in shock myself.

It was going to be a hard one to sell, but I had to do it. There was no way I couldn't.

I took a deep breath and walked down the steps. Three sets of eyes immediately fell on me from the dinner table and I winced when I realized they had to start dinner without me.

"Emma? Is everything okay?"

I bit my lip as I put the phone back on the cradle. "Um, well..."

"Who's Oliver Queen?"

"Subtle, Charming," Mary Margret groaned.

I let out breath and walked over to the table. It didn't go unnoticed that Hook had yet to speak, but something told me that the question he had was the one my father had just asked.

"Ollie is an old friend from New York. From before I came to Storybrooke." Killian's eyes stayed on his plate but his jaw clenched.

I put my hands on the back of a chair. "Is everything okay?"

"Well," I started. "Not exactly." "Oh no," my mother gasped.

"Ollie and I use to work together when I was a bail bounds person. That's probably how he got this number, he always was the second best at finding people."

"Who was the first?" David asked. I raised my eyebrows at him and he nodded. "Ah, I see." "So, he called to see how you were doing?" Mary Margret asked.

I winced and took a deep breath. "He called because he needs my help." Killian's eyes shot up to mine but his face was like stone.

"He wants you to find someone?" David asked and I nodded. Killian's lips twitched and I could already tell he had figured it out.

"Okay, I mean we are pretty out dated here in Storybrooke, but I'm sure we can do something..." David began.

"Not here," I just about whispered. "What?" Gasped my mother.

"In New York, I have to go to New York."

The room filled with silence before the loud clang of Killian's fork being dropped onto his plate caused me to jump.

"Emma, you can't... The Snow Queens cursed the town line..." Mary Margaret started. "I know," I mumbled.

"If you leave you won't be able to get back," David finished.

"I know."

"And you told him you would," Killian whispered.

I looked at him sadly. "I told him to give me a couple days. Maybe Regina and I could..." Killian snorted and stood up from the table while David started to openly argue.

"Okay, everyone just calm down. Killian, sit!" mom ordered.

The pirate huffed before he did as he was told and I couldn't help my small smile.

_Always the gentleman_.

"Emma, I understand you want to help an old friend, but if you leave here, you won't be able to come back," David explained.

I nodded. "I know. I'm going to go over to Regina's tomorrow and talk to her, see if maybe we can figure something out."

"What's so important that you have to do it in New York? Why can't you help from here? You've helped plenty of other colleagues from here when they called before."

I gave my mother a small smile. "It's complicated." "Oh bugger that!" Killian cried out.

We all looked at him in shock.

"If you are willing to cross that town line and risk never coming back we bloody well deserve to know why."

I had to fight the urge to lash out at him. I was an adult and understood the consequences of my decision and he didn't have to remind me, but I knew that he was hurting.

"Fine," I snapped. When I saw his jaw clench, I sighed and nodded. "You're right. You guys do deserve to know."

I sat down in the chair and reached for Killian's flask that was on the table next to his glass. I took a swig and put it down in front of me.

_This was going to be fun_.

"When I got out of jail, I was put into a halfway house. I was a criminal that had no job, and no money, so they placed me in a house that I could stay at until I could get back on my feet. While I was there, I met this girl, Felicity. She was my roommate. I didn't mind her, she was quiet and kept to herself, and I wasn't really the sharing type."

"Oh, Emma." My mother whispered in pain like she always did when I talked about my past.

I gave her a reassuring smile and continued. "About two months after I got there, I went back to the house one night and she was in the room shaking, she was terrified. I tried to give her some space but then I realized she hadn't left the house in days, I finally asked her what was wrong. She didn't talk at first, which was fine; I wasn't going to push her and understood the need for privacy. But there was just something about her, she looked so... Lost," I shivered at the memory. "I figured to get her talking I would tell her why I had gone to jail. It worked and she explained that the reason she went to jail was because she hacked some government agency."

All three looked at me shocked and I chuckled.

"Yeah, she's probably the smartest person on the planet. Anyway, she told me her story, I knew she was keeping something from me, but I didn't want to push, so I just let her speak and figured whatever she was hiding was her own business. She's kind of a rambler, it's funny really, and at times she says things that are so off the wall, it takes a second for her brain to catch up with her mouth. But that's how I found out she took the fall for her boyfriend, Cooper. I mean, she did do the hacking, but they only got caught because of him, and she told him to run. The thing was, what she did, or what she intended to do, were stupid things. Send out viruses, spam, switch things around, basically just be a pain in the ass to the government, but what Cooper wanted was so much more. He took the virus Felicity made and made it like, huge. I don't really know the correct terms, but it was bad, like wipe out the government bad, and she didn't know until after she was arrested, but she still refused to turn him in. She was in love."

I rolled my eyes at the last part and took another sip of rum.

"Cooper promised to visit her while she was in jail, promised to keep in touch, but of course, like douche bags go, he never did. It wasn't until after she got out she found out he took her virus, stole a bunch of money and took off. He used her for his own gain."

I clenched my jaw and took another sip of rum as familiar feelings of anger started to come back.

"Anyway, that night, she was shaking and hadn't left the house because Cooper had re appeared. She was trying to get her life back on track, taking online courses and saving up for college and he just showed back up, demanding she write another virus for him because the one she wrote before no longer worked. She told him no and he threatened her, so she was too scared to leave the house. She almost got thrown out too, because she kept calling out of her job and one of the rules of the halfway house is that you have to be employed. But I convinced her to work through it, to not let him scare her and that she didn't have to do anything she didn't want. Almost a month went by and she hadn't heard anything from Cooper, so we thought he had given up."

Another sip of rum.

"Then one night, Felicity's car was vandalized. The police blamed it on some kids and just filed a report. It wasn't like we could prove it was Cooper either way. Then a couple nights after that, our room was broken into and her laptop was stolen. She said there was nothing on it he could get, plus, we couldn't prove that it wasn't someone else that lived in the house, so she didn't even bother calling. The last thing was a brick being thrown through our window one night when we were sleeping."

My mother gasped while Killian and my father just stared in horror.

"I wanted to run, I almost did, but Felicity... She's just this..." I struggled with my words. "She’s just this good person. She's sweet and nice and... She's Belle! She's exactly like Belle, she was so meek, and mild, and you just wanted to help her, protect her. So I stayed and we boarded up the window and decided to wait it out."

I choked on my words and had to fight back my tears. I kept my eyes on Killian's flask as I explained the next part.

"A week later, I came home from work and Felicity wasn't there. She was always home before me, doing school work or whatever else she did. At first, I really didn't think anything of it until it got later, closer to the curfew of the house, and she still hadn't showed. I called her job and they said she had left hours before when her shift ended. So, I decided to go look for her. But when I got to my car, I saw hers parked a couple down from mine."

A tear escaped my eye and I reached up to wipe it away.

"I found her in that car, clinging to life. He beat her almost to death. Her eyes were swollen shut, her jaw was broken, and so were her ribs. She didn't even look like a person!" I sobbed. "Felicity was in the hospital for six months because of her internal injuries and because he had broken her leg so bad, she had to learn how to walk again."

At that point, my mother was silently sobbing and my father and Killian looked like they wanted to murder someone.

"After that, I took self-defense classes. I swore I would never let that happen to me, I would never not know how to defend myself. And I'm not saying she didn't defend herself, she did... She got some real good hits in."

"You saw him?" David hissed.

Killian groaned and leaned his elbows on the table.

I took a deep breath and sat up. I swore I could feel the scar on my hair line start to tingle, but they didn't need to know that or the truth of what happened.

"He came by the hospital one night when I was there. He had scratch marks, a split lip and a swollen eye. I'm assuming that's why he decided to use the bat. I tried to call in the nurses, but he got away," I lied. Killian's eye shot up to look at me and I could tell he knew I wasn't being completely honest, but I continued before he could call me out on it. "After that, she moved out of the house, went to MIT and is currently head of the IT department of some huge corporation kicking ass at what she does."

I lifted the flask to my mouth and groaned when I realized it was empty. I quickly stood up and moved to the kitchen to get the bottle of rum I kept hidden just for Killian and refilled it.

"I don't understand, what does this have to do with your friend Oliver?" My mother asked as she wiped her eyes.

"He called me because... Cooper is back."

We were all silent as I let my story sink in with them. It wasn't until Neal started to cry from his crib that anyone moved. Mary Margret went over to tend to my brother, Killian shot up and started to pace while David just stood behind his chair and gripped it.

"He's back?" David asked.

I lifted the flask to my mouth. "Yup." I took another sip and closed my eyes as the burn went down my throat.

"He's sure?"

"Pretty sure, Ollie wouldn't just go on a hunch." Another sip.

"And what is he asking of you?" David asked.

I moved to take another sip, but before the flask could reach my lips, Killian's hand stopped me. "I think that's enough, Swan."

I glared at him, but let him take the flask out of my hand. The rum had already started its numbing affect.

"He's asking me to help find him. He's tried and can't seem to locate him. Cooper is wanted in a lot of states for many different things, but Ollie wants to bring him in for what he did to Felicity."

"The brig is too sweet of a punishment for a coward like him," Killian hissed. "I agree. But that's the real world out there; justice is him going to jail."

"Emma, I don't like this," my mother started as she bounced my brother in her arms. "I know you want to help your friends, but this man is dangerous."

I snorted. "More dangerous than Cora? More dangerous than a fire breathing dragon? He's just a man." "You had magic to help with them!" David cried out. "In New York you won't."

"I can defend myself!" I stated through clenched teeth.

"Aye," Killian started. "You can. But that doesn't make us feel any better about it, especially if you can never come back."

I ran my hands through my hair. "I know that, and I'm struggling with this... I really am. I in no way want to leave. This place is my home! But if Cooper is back, I have to help! I can't just let them go through this alone."

"Does that poor girl know?" My mother asked as she walked back into the room after she put Neal back down.

"If Ollie knows, Felicity knows."

"Guess your friend _Ollie _is close with a lot of ladies," Killian grumbled.

I gave him a look at the way he said Ollie's name and shook my head. "Well, he would be close with Felicity considering she's his wife."

Killian stopped pacing and looked at me. I raised my eyebrow at him and he reached up to scratch his ear, his cheeks had just a hint of blush on them.

I sat back in my chair and rolled my eyes. "Ollie was my partner at work. He was the one I called to help Felicity get a new start."

"You introduced them?" David asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Ollie knows people; I knew he would be able to help her. He came to the hospital with me a couple times, then he started to go by himself. By the time she was out, it was like they were old friends. They were really annoying at first. They were always making these eyes at each other and neither one of them wanted to admit it, well, actually, Felicity did, but Oliver kept pushing her away, trying to protect her or whatever. It pissed me off, especially since I wasn’t exactly in the ‘romantic’ state of mind at that time. So I invited them both out for a drink with me and didn't show up. They fell in love and were married two years later."

Mary Margaret chuckled and I looked at her confused. "Look at you, giving people their happy endings even before you knew you were the savior."

My cheeks started to burn so I just crossed my arms and looked down at my lap.

"Look, I know you guys don't want me to leave, but you have to trust me, if I go to Regina tomorrow and she tells me there is absolutely no way I can leave with a way to return, then I won't go. I'll find another way to help Ollie. But if there is, I have to go."

All three of them were silent until Killian broke it. "If you're leaving, I'm going with you."

My jaw dropped as both of my parents looked at him in shock. "Hook..."

"Don't ask me to watch you walk across that line alone on the hunt for a mad man, Swan."

His eyes were filled with sorrow and his jaw was clenched, I didn't want him anywhere near Cooper, but I knew if I didn't let him go, he would have just found a way to follow me.

I just nodded and whispered, "Okay."

Killian gave me a small smile before he looked down at his feet.

"It's getting late, we should all get some sleep." Mary Margaret stated as she stood up. "What about the dishes?" I asked.

"I'll get them in the morning, don't worry about it."

I nodded as Neal started to cry again, so David walked over to his bassinet.

"Emma, will you stay here tonight? I'll feel better knowing you're under the same roof." I looked over at Killian who gave a small shrug.

"Of course, mom."

She leaned in and whispered, "I'll even take her your father in the bathroom right now so Killian doesn't have to climb through my window."

Both of our eyes went wide. I could tell we both felt like two teenagers who had just been caught.

Mary Margaret chuckled before she gave me a kiss on the cheek and said goodnight to both me and Killian. We stood there and watched as she made some excuse for David to follow her.

"I guess you aren't as sneaky as you'd like to think, pirate," I joked with him, in hope that it would break the tension.

"S'not my fault your mother was also a bandit. She already knows half of the tricks."

I rolled my eyes and made sure the front door was locked before I walked upstairs with Killian close behind.

"You really want to come with me?"

Killian stopped unbuttoning his vest and looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "Does that surprise you?"

I was suddenly hit with the memory of that last time he had said those words to me right before our first kiss.

They were once again laced with pain.

I bit my lip and looked down. I hated myself for still doubting him, but I couldn't help a lifetime of disappointment. Killian let out a sigh and walked over to me.

When he wrapped his arms around my waist, I reached up to play with his necklace.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._

"Emma, I understand you want to help your friend and that there is nothing your parents or I can say to change that. You wouldn't be the woman that I lo..."

My eyes went wide which caused him to stop mid-sentence. It wasn't like I didn't know how Killian felt about me, even though he rarely said the words, mostly because he knew how much they terrified me, I still knew.

And yes, I knew it was stupid. I had known since the moment I held his heart in my hands that I had fallen in love with him, but I hadn't told him. I couldn't. If I said those words, it would make everything seem much more real and that thought alone scared me to death.

What we had worked for us, and I didn't want to jinx it.

He closed his eyes briefly before he let out a sigh and started again.

"You wouldn't be you, but I’m asking you to remember there is a possibility you won't be able to go there."

My heart hurt at that thought, but it hurt more at the thought of never seeing my family again. "I know. I will, I promise, if Regina can't help, then we won't go."

Killian gave me a smile and kissed me on the forehead before he turned to his finish taking his vest off. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out my pajamas. A small smile came to my face when I saw Killian's pajama bottoms in there.

After the fourth time of him staying over, I had told him to just keep an extra pair at the loft so he didn't have to carry them back and forth. His jaw had dropped and he stuttered out his reply of okay. It wasn't until I was eating lunch with David later that day that I actually realized what I had done. I waited for the panic to start to set in, but it never did. Later, I went out and bought him an extra toothbrush for my bathroom as well.

His shocked look was downright adorable.

I turned to hand him his bottoms just in time to see him pull his button down off which caused him to be shirtless. I felt my cheeks burn and glared at him when he raised his eyebrow at me. I walked to my bathroom and shut the door.

I leaned my back against the door and closed my eyes.

Killian was beyond attractive. There was no doubt about that, and we had years of built up sexual tension between us, it was bound to break soon.

Or I was.

Killian seemed like he had no problem and it wasn't like I believed he had been a perfect angel for the centuries he had been alive since Milah had passed, my time in the Enchanted Forest with his past self proved that, so I expected to see some sort of struggle.

But every time we were interrupted, or every time we were alone for even a second, he showed no signs and part of it had been really starting to eat at me. I opened my eyes and looked at myself in the mirror.

I knew I was an attractive woman, I had no insecurity issues, but when the guy you were... whatever you were with didn't even show interest in being intimate, you questioned a few things.

_Maybe it had to do with the fact you have to constantly be in layers around him_.

I finished buttoning my pajama top and looked down. My parents had lived in the Enchanted Forest where indoor heating was produced by fire, so they were used to the cold, which meant the loft stayed at a brisk 60 degrees on a constant basis, and Killian had lived on a ship for centuries so anything above 40 degrees was a summer day to him.

I sighed and turned the faucet on to brush my teeth. The bathroom door opened and Killian walked in to stand next to me to do the same.

Our gaze connected in the mirror as we brushed and I rolled my eyes when he wiggled his eyebrows at me. I looked down and stopped brushing.

It wasn't the first time this had happened. Whenever I turned the water on, Killian knew that meant I was dressed and he could come in to brush his teeth as well, so we stood side by side, both barefoot, both dressed in pajamas, him shirtless and missing his leather brace, and brushed our teeth.

If you asked me, that was way more intimate than any sex act two people could do together. Killian leaned down and rinsed his mouth out when he caught me staring. "Everything okay, love?"

I finished up and put my tooth brush next to his in the cup on the sink before I leaned up on my toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

_I love you._

He gave me an adorable confused smile and pulled his brows together in question. "Everything is perfect."


	3. Chapter 3

#  Chapter Three

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my mother’s voice instead of my alarm. "Emma! Breakfast is ready."

I groaned and rolled over to search for Killian, but he was gone. I pouted before I heard another knock on my door.

"Emma!"

"I'm up!" I called out.

I forced myself out of the bed and did my morning routine before I trudged down the steps. I stopped and stared at the scene before me.

My mother was scooping pancakes onto a plate while Killian sat at the island sipping a cup of coffee fully dressed.

"Ugh..."

"Your father decided to go into the station this morning so that you could go talk to Regina. When he left, I let Killian know he didn't have to climb out the window." She answered with a smirk.

My mouth fell open and I had to snap myself out of the twilight zone I had just walked into. I shuffled over to the table and sat on one of the stools.

"I thought you left," I mumbled.

Killian gave me a wink before he leaned over, kissed my temple, and placed his hooked hand on my leg. He did that every time we sat next to each other and it made me feel oddly safe.

"Good morning, love."

A smile graced my lips before I looked up at Mary Margaret who had been grinning like fool. I rolled my eyes and accepted the cup of coffee she placed in front of me.

"So is this the time you yell at us for sneaking around?" Mary Margaret chuckled and handed me a full plate.

"Emma, sweetie, you're an adult. But words of advice, if you want to sneak around, try to be a little quieter."

My cheeks burned just as Killian choked on the food he had just started to chew. "Wh..what?! We... I... Never..."

My mother let out a full belly laugh. "I meant you giggling!" I squeezed my eyes shut in horror.

_Of course it was the fucking giggling! Get your shit together, Swan! You're not some hormonal teenager!_

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're up there laughing at yourself."

My cheeks were in a permanent state of red, but it wasn't like she was wrong. For some reason, when it was just us at night, I felt like a school girl and spent most of the time giggling at the quirky, ridiculous, adorable things Killian did.

Two nights prior, he had me laughing to the point tears were coming down my face as he mocked Johnny Depp's take on a pirate.

"Plus, it was confirmed when Henry found out."

That caused me to snap my head up. I looked over at Killian to see him scratch his ear. "Henry knows?! Since when? Did you know he knew?"

Killian had a guilty look on his face and I glared at him, to which he sighed.

"The lad came up to the room one night for his wire," cell phone charger. "After you fell asleep. Although he promised not to tell you or the prince," he told my mom.

"He didn't. But when I tried to go up there and he stopped me, I knew it was true." I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Great," I mumbled. "Why don't we just tell Leroy so he can shout it throughout the town?" "Pretty sure he did that the first morning you left Granny's, Swan."

I groaned while both my mom and Killian laughed.

***

"Oh look, it's the savior and her lap dog, I'm so thrilled," Regina said flatly as Killian and I walked into her office.

I shook my head.

"Hello to you, too, Regina. How goes the reading?"

I motioned to Henry's open book on her desk as Killian and I took a seat. She sighed and shut it. "Nothing new," she put the book aside. "What can I help you with, Miss Swan?"

I opened my mouth to speak when the song 'Come Sail Away' by the Styx filled the room. I held back my laugh while Regina's eyes went wide. Killian clenched his jaw and reached into his pocket.

"I've asked your son to bloody change this and he refuses," he mumbled before he answered, "Aye?" "I think I'll give Henry a raise on his allowance now," Regina said with a smirk and I chuckled.

"Hello, lass... Aye, Emma has the day off... Ugh, I can.... Now? Do you want Em... Okay, see you soon." Regina and I both looked at him as he stood up. "That was Belle. She's asked me to come to the shop." "Is everything okay?" I asked.

"S'fine. She wants to show me something, could possibly have to do with the pixies. You stay here and talk to Regina. I'll come by when I'm done."

I gave him a nod and accepted his soft kiss. "Your majesty," he said with a half bow.

"Captain," she answered with a flick of her wrist, which caused the door to her office open. Killian walked out and she turned back to me. "What's up?"

I sighed and started from the beginning. I didn't give Regina the full story, just enough so that she knew the gravity of the situation, but even that brought back feelings of anger.

"So this Oliver wants your help in tracking him down?"

"Yes, but it's not that simple. I can't do it from here, I'd have to go to New York."

Regina chuckled. "Did you hit your heard or something? The Snow Queen's curse is still in place, I haven't figured out a way to take it down, if you leave, you won't be able to come back."

"I know, I was just hoping maybe we could..."

"If there was a way don't you think I would have figured it out by now?" She snapped.

Sorrow fell over me. Regina was still hurting due to Robin's departure even though she had been putting on a brave face.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I just, Oliver and Felicity were close friends of mine, I had to see if there was anything I could do " I stopped talking when it finally hit me. "That's it."

_How could I be so stupid?_

"What?"

"The Snow Queen's scroll... It let her into Storybrooke once, maybe it will work for me."

Regina's eyebrow went up. "We wouldn't know until someone crosses the line and tries it and I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to be that test subject."

"I'll do it," Regina looked at me like I had lost my mind. "If it works, there's no harm." "And if it doesn't?"

"If it doesn't, I know you'll find a way to get me back. I trust you."

Regina looked at me with skeptic before she nodded. "Your parents aren't going to like it very much." I nodded. "I know, but I have to try."

"What about Henry?"

I bit my lip. I knew he wasn't going to like what I had to do at all, but I also knew he would understand. "I'll tell him when he gets done school. He'll understand and I know he will be safe here with you.

Besides, it'll be nice for you two to have some alone time together." She gave me a small, appreciative smile before she nodded.

Regina stood. "Okay. The scroll is in my vault."

I stood to follow her just as my phone started to ring with the Pirates of The Caribbean theme song. Regina chuckled. "Seriously?"

"What? It's funny." I said with an innocent shrug. She just shook her head as she grabbed her coat. "Hey... "

"Swan, can you and the Queen come to the shop?" "Is everything okay?"

"Aye, we just require a little... magical assistance."

"Okay, we'll be right there."

We said goodbye and I hung up the phone. "Hook asked if we could stop at Gold's shop, said he needed some magical assistance."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Belle probably tripped another magical object. I've had to go there three times this week to help her."

***

When Regina and I walked into the shop, I went on high alert. Killian's body language was stiff and Belle gave us a small smile.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Did you figure out a way to get to New York?" Killian asked, ignoring my original question. "Yeah, well, kind of. The Snow Queen's scroll, we're hoping it'll let us back in like it did her." "And if it doesn't?"

"Then I'll figure out a way to bring her back," Regina answered. "I'll never stop." Killian blinked before he turned to Belle and gave her a slight nod.

My brow went together as she reached down for the cloth that had been covering a jar on the counter and pulled it off.

My jaw dropped and my eyes went wide. "Is that..." Regina started.

"Aye. It's my hand."

I took a step forward and looked at the hand in the jar. The last time I had seen it, it had been attached.

"Is this how he gave it back to you?" I asked in a whisper. "It looks..." "Fresh." Regina finished as she stood next to me, also staring into the jar.

She lifted her hand and touched the jar lightly. "It's a magical jar, meant to preserve." "That's creepy." I mumbled.

I looked up when I felt eyes on me.

"Oh come on! Keeping a severed hand for hundreds of years isn't a little bit weird to any of you?" "Well..." Regina started and I held up my hand.

"Don't answer that."

"I found it in the back this morning," Belle explained. "Figured I'd give Killian the choice if he wanted it or not."

He motioned toward it. "The last time I had that, it started to turn me back into the man I use to be. The crocodile said it wasn't cursed, but I still don't..."

"Oh it's cursed alright," Regina interrupted him. "Really?" I gasped.

"Yes, see how the water is foggy? That's magic and not the magic from the jar."

Killian clenched his jaw and looked up in the air. Another string Gold had pulled on him.

Belle let out a stuttered breath. "Sorry. Just hearing the things he did... I'm just going to..." She motioned to the back and I gave her a small smile before she walked out of the room.

Regina took the lid off of the jar and waved her hands around the top. The water started to bubble before white smoke rose from it and vanished in thin air. The water in the jar was no longer foggy, but clear.

"There, no more curse. Is that why you called us here?" Regina asked as she turned to Killian.

He let out a sigh. "I thought if we were going to go to New York, it might be helpful to have two hands instead of a wooden one since I wouldn't be able to wear my hook. But I also wasn't sure..."

"But there's no magic out there, wouldn't it fade as soon as we crossed the line?"

We looked at Regina who rolled her eyes. "A healing potion, once the hand is attached, all he has to do is drink it before he crosses and the tendons and muscles will heal back together naturally and stay once he crosses the line."

I looked over at Killian and shrugged my shoulders. "It's up to you."

He looked back and forth between my eyes before he turned to Regina. "Aye, do it." "Would it kill you to ask a little nicer?" She hissed.

"Might," he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. I rolled my eyes at them.

Regina pressed her lips together and flicked her wrist. There was a loud clang on the floor and when I looked down, I saw Killian's leather brace with the hook still attached on the floor. Killian lifted his newly repaired hand and stared at it.

"And you're sure..." Killian started.

"Please," Regina started with a dry chuckle. "It's fine, just a hand." He clenched his fist and dropped it to his side.

"Thank you."

Regina nodded. "Now let's go get that scroll."

***

I leaned against my car as I waited for the kids to pile out of the school. I decided to pick Henry up and tell him what was going on as we drove to the town line where Killian, Regina and my parents waited.

They didn't like the idea of it not being certain either, but I told them I had to try. So they insisted they wanted to be there.

My phone beeped in my pocket and I pulled it out to see a text from Oliver.

# You're an angel. We can't wait to see you, Em.

It was no secret that my childhood wasn't an easy one, and after what happened with Neal, what little trust I had in people had all but evaporated. But Oliver and Felicity were different. Even though I had

still kept them at arm’s length, the time I spent with them had been some of the happiest years in my life. I had to help them.

"Mom!"

I looked up to see Henry racing toward me with his backpack slung over his shoulder. "Hey, kid!"

He wrapped his arms around me and I breathed in his scent.

"I thought we were all meeting at Granny's tonight for dinner?" "Ugh, yeah something kind of came up."

"Oh no," he groaned as we got into the car. "Is there some new evil around?" I chuckled. "No, remember what my job was in New York?"

"You were a bail bounds person."

"Right. Well, when I first started, my partners name was Oliver and we had a friend named Felicity. A bad man went after her years ago when we all first met; it's kind of how we became so close. That bad man is back and he's asked me for my help in finding him."

"Can you?"

"I'm going to try," I answered honestly.

From the corner of my eye I saw Henry look at the surroundings in confusion.

"Where are we..." He stopped when the town line came into view and we could see our family waiting. "Wait, what's going on?"

I parked behind my father’s truck, turned the car off and turned toward Henry. "In order for me to help him, I need to go to New York for a couple days."

"But the curse! You won't be able to come back!" He cried out frantically.

"I know... Regina and I figured it out. We're here to see if The Snow Queens scroll will work." "What do you mean?"

I adjusted myself in my seat. "Well, it let her get into Storybrooke, so I'm hoping it will let me get back in."

"Are you saying you're going to try now? What if it doesn't work?"

I reached over and rubbed his cheek. "Then Regina has promised to do everything in her power to make sure I can get back."

Henry looked at me with fear before he reached over and threw his arms around me. I chuckled and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Are you scared it won't?"

"Yes. This is our home. I don't want to leave. But I have to help my friend."

Henry nodded before he pulled away and we stepped out of the car. Henry ran up to Regina and hugged her while I walked up to my parents.

"I don't like this, Emma," my mom whispered as she bounced Neal around. "Me either," David included. "What if you can't get back in?"

"Regina will find out a way, I trust her."

"I do, too," Mary Margaret argued. "And it's not that I don't believe in her, but we don't know how long it could take, something could happen..."

"Hey, it'll be okay," I assured her.

She gave me a sad smile and nodded.

I fought back my tears before I pulled her in for a hug. Part of me was terrified that the scroll wouldn't work and that I was about to lose my family all over again, but I couldn't leave Oliver and Felicity to face Cooper alone.

"I love you, mom," I whispered.

Mary Margaret sobbed and squeezed me harder. "I love you, too," she answered back.

We pulled apart and I leaned down to give my brother a kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you soon, buddy."

I turned to my father and he immediately pulled me into his arms. "Promise me you'll watch over Henry."

David pulled back and put his hands on my shoulder. "This isn't goodbye, Emma. We will always find each other, remember that."

I nodded and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Dad." "I love you, too, sweetie."

I took a deep breath and walked over to Killian who had been leaning against Regina's car, his jaw tense and his hands in his pockets.

"I don't like this, Swan." "I know..."

He didn't say anything else he just looked at the ground before he stood up fully. This could possibly be the last time I would ever see him, the hurt that thought alone caused made it hard to breathe.

Somewhere along the line, Killian had become my anchor, and without him, I honestly didn't know how I would live.

I needed to tell him how I felt.

"Look, Killian, there's something I wanted to..." He shook his head. "No."

I blinked. "What?"

He looked me right in my eyes and I gasped at the determination I found in them. "I've watched you cross that line once already thinking I would never see you again, I'm not about to bloody well do it again. When you cross to check the scroll, I'm coming with you."

"Killian..."

"We do it together, or I'll throw you over my shoulder and take you back into town kicking and screaming."

I pressed my lips together to hide my smile. "I think David might have a problem with that." "Actually, this is the one time the pirate and I are in complete agreement." David called out. I looked over at him in shock before I turned back toward Killian.

"Aye, I heard it, too." Killian answered with equal shock.

I shook my head and opened my mouth to speak when I heard Regina yell. "Henry, no!"

We all snapped our heads to see Henry running toward the town line. "HENRY!" I screamed.

"Lad!"

"Regina, move him!" David hollered out.

But before she could grab him with her magic, Henry was already across the town line.


	4. Chapter 4

#  Chapter Four

"Henry!!" I cried out as tears ran down my face.

"What the bloody hell did he do that for?" Killian asked as we watched Henry stop running. He turned around and a confused look crossed his face.

"Mom? Mom? Killian?"

I let out a sob as Killian came up to wrap his arms around me. From what Belle had told me after she forced Gold over, once he crossed the town line, he was unable to see her anymore.

"He was saying how you shouldn't have been the one to have to test it then asked me to get him his book from my car. When I had my back turned he took off!"

Regina moved to run when David screamed out to her and grabbed her arm. “Regina, don’t!”

She turned a murderous look back at my father and lifted her hand to blast him away with her magic.

“If he is stuck out there, you will be our _only _chance of getting him back. I know you want to go out there with him, but we will find another way,” David explained frantically.

“I’ll go,” I stated and tried to pull away from Killian only to have him hold onto me tighter.

“Wait, love. The Snow Queen’s scroll, we have to try it. If not, we’ll go be with Henry.”

My eyes went wide as Regina frantically searched her jacket before she pulled it out. She tossed the scroll across the line and we all held our breath as it flew in the air. The scroll landed on the ground with a soft sound and we all watched as Henry leaned down to pick it up.

I reached up and grasped Killian's arm that was around me and watched.

Henry untied the scroll and lifted it. A second later, he put the scroll down and smiled. Regina and I both let out a sob as he walked back over the town line.

We both rushed over and wrapped our arms around him. "I'm fine, moms."

"Jesus, kid." I breathed.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Regina cried out as we pulled away. "I knew that there was a risk..."

"Henry, you could have been stuck out there!" Regina cried.

He turned to her and smiled. "No, I wouldn't have. You would have gotten me back, Mom. I know that."

Regina gave him a smile before she kissed his forehead and pulled him into her arms. I rubbed his back as I tried to calm myself down.

"At least we know the scroll works," Henry said with a smile. I chuckled. "Yeah. But you're so grounded."

Regina nodded. "Yes, you really are."

***

"Do you have somewhere to stay?" Mary Margaret asked me later when we were all at Granny's for dinner.

I took a sip of my hot chocolate and place it down on the counter. "The lease to my apartment isn't up until September, it's just been sitting vacant. Should be okay for a couple days."

"Can you grab my comics from my bedroom? I want to read them," Henry asked. I smiled. "Sure thing, kid."

I looked over at Killian and gave him a small smile. "You remember it, don't you?" He answered with a smirk and a squeeze on my knee where his left hand was.

"Tell us more about your friends, Emma. You've never mentioned them," Mary Margaret said. "She's right," Regina started. "From what I've heard you were always a loner."

I crossed my arms on the table and shrugged. "I was for all intense purposes, but Ollie and Felicity were different. After what happened to her, we all just became close. I mean, I still held them at a distance, and I think they knew that, but we still had a good time. Ollie always had my back when we were out

and the same for me with him." I looked over at Henry. "He was the first one that actually knew about you."

"Was he your boyfriend?" Henry asked and I felt Killian's hand on my knee tense.

I snorted and shook my head. "No, never. He and Felicity are married, I introduced them."

Killian physically relaxed next to me, so I bumped him with my shoulder which caused his ears to turn pink.

"Why do you call him, Ollie? That sounds weird," Henry said with a face. I chuckled, "Because he hates it."

"Emma..." My father gave me a tone.

"There's a story behind it, but I use to only do it to make him mad, then it kind of stuck." "What's the story?" Henry asked, excitedly.

I winced and looked over at Killian who raised an eyebrow to me. I reached below the table and laced my fingers with his, because I knew he wasn't going to like the story.

"Well, when Ollie was younger he was this huge 'ladies’ man', or so he tells me, and he never really stayed tied down and was always getting into trouble. But then his Dad died and it changed him. He got his life together and started working toward a future."

"Good for him," Mary Margaret said with a smile.

"Yeah, I mean, I never met him when he was like that, but from some of the stories I heard, he was a real piece of work. Anyway, one night, I was feeling particularly down after a visit with Felicity so he took me out for some drinks and one of his exes showed up. She followed him around like a little puppy dog... 'Ollie, O.M.G!'" I exclaimed in a high pitch voice which caused everyone to laugh. "'Ollie, come here! Ollie, I missed you!'"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "I wanted to punch her in the face. I let him catch up and walked away. After a couple minutes, he came running up begging me to act like his girlfriend so she would leave him alone. I wasn't going to at first, but then she followed him and her voice was like nails on a chalk board. So I agreed. We held hands, cuddled up and he introduced me as his girlfriend. It was nothing serious, and totally an act. But, she was a determined little chippy, and I didn't want to get arrested for assault so instead of punching her in the face, I kissed him."

Killian choked on his rum and everyone chuckled while Henry patted his back.

I squeezed his hand and continued my story. "She ran away in a huff and because I had to go to that extreme, I decided my reward would be that I got to call him Ollie all the time.”

“All because you had to kiss him?” Regina asked with a raised eyebrow.

I took another sip of my hot chocolate and nodded. “Yup. But he got me back, we were young at the time, just turned twenty one, so we all went out for drinks a lot, and when you’re the only single female, you tend to get hit on, and how most douchey men in their early twenties hit on women is by calling them ‘gorgeous', ‘angel’, ‘hunnie’ and all those other names when they talk and that annoyed me the most. So whenever we talk, Ollie always does it to get back at me. Now, I think it’s just second nature.”

I could practically feel the tension leaking out of Killian as he kept his face blank. I tried to get his attention, but all he did was give me forced smile and took a sip of his flask.

“And his wife doesn’t mind?” David asked with a smile. I had a feeling he was enjoying Hook’s suffering.

“Who, Felicity?” I chuckled and shook my head. “No. Whenever we use to bicker she would always claim that she was Switzerland and stayed out of it. Even at their wedding, Felicity asked me to be maid of honor, when I did my speech, I insisted on calling him Ollie and when he complained and tried to pull the husband card, she just shook her head and walked away.”

I continued to tell my family stories about Felicity and Oliver and I never noticed the small smile that was on my face the entire time. I didn’t have many good memories from my childhood, and once I had turned an adult, I did whatever I had to to survive, but those two had made it better.

“How did you guys lose touch?” Mary Margaret asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Life happens. Felicity was offered this huge job in California and they couldn’t pass it up. We tried to stay connected when they moved away, but things just got too hectic for them and I wasn't the reaching out type. Then I came here… and that was that.”

“But they are back in New York?” David asked. My phone started to ring in my pocket.

“Yeah, he said that they moved back four months ago. Could be a reason why Cooper resurfaced.” I took my cell out of my pocket and answered it. “Hello?”

“Em!”

“Hey, Ollie, what’s up?”

_“Tell her!” _I heard a female voice in the background.

“I am!” Oliver hissed and I chuckled into the phone. “So, ugh, I’m assuming you’re going to be staying at your apartment in New York when you get here right?”

My brows went together in confusion. “That was the plan… wait how do you know about my apartment?”

“Well, you see…”

_“Stop stalling, Queen!”_

Oliver sighed. “The reason I was able to find the number for you in Maine was because I kind of, might have, broken into your apartment to look for you.”

My jaw dropped and everybody looked at me in concern but I just shook my head. “Of course you did, Queen! You better not of broken anything!”

Oliver snorted. “Yeah, because you obviously cared so much about the things you left behind.”

I shook my head. “Okay, fine. Thanks for letting me know or else I would have probably left and stayed at a hotel.”

_“I cleaned it up a little too for you!”_

I chuckled. “Did she just say that she cleaned my apartment for me?”

“She is a little excited,” Oliver stated before he lowered his voice. “She’s been driving me insane.”

_“I heard that, Oliver!”_

I laughed. “You married her. But then again, you know my take on the situation… I’ve always felt bad for _her_.”

Mary Margaret stopped her conversation with Regina and gasped, “Emma!” “Who ever said that tell them I said thank you, because I took offense to that.” I snorted. “Yeah, okay.”

Oliver laughed. “Okay, Emma. Have a safe trip tomorrow. Give us a call when you get in, we’ll come by the apartment and we’ll all get some dinner.”

“Sure thing. We're going to leave here around nine, so we should be there between four and five.” “Whoa, we?”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

_Shit._

“Yeah,” I looked up at Killian who raised his eyebrow in question. “He’s…” I trailed off because I had no idea what to say.

Friend?

_Yeah, that shipped sailed long ago._

Person I was dating?

_We have been on exactly one date._

Lover?

_Could someone be considered a lover if we haven’t slept together yet?_

Boyfriend?

_Could a pirate that is technically over two hundred years old be actually considered a boyfriend, does he even really understand the concept?_

“Ah, you’re bringing back up, I get it. That’s fine, Em. If you trust him, so do we,” Oliver answered before I had to make my decision.

I blew out a breath. Oliver would think I had meant backup, as far as he knew, I was still the closed off girl who refused to let anyone in. Who snuck out the next morning after a one night stand rather than stay for a chat.

We said goodbye and I got off the phone to spend the rest of the dinner laughing with my family.

Later that night, I found myself sitting on the couch watching one of the superhero movies with Henry and Hook. Half way through the movie, Henry had gotten tired and laid his head in my lap with his legs across Killian's.

I closed my eyes as I felt Killian’s fingers begin to rub the back of my neck and I smiled. He had his left hand back for less than eight hours and he was already putting it to good use.

“Have you decided if you’re going to keep it?” I asked him in a whisper.

Killian shrugged. “Not sure yet, love. It feels strange not having the hook, but I know two hands will be better than one in New York.”

When I looked over at him, I leaned my head back on his arm and said, “I’m glad you’re coming with me.”

Killian’s eyes met mine and a half smile went to his face. “Aye?”

I nodded. “I mean, besides the reason that we’re going, it’s almost like we are taking a vacation. Only traditionally you go somewhere that’s quieter and less crowded.”

He breathed out a chuckle. “We’ve never been ones for tradition.”

“This is true,” I sat up and winced as I tried to move my legs. “We should probably get some sleep. It’s a long drive tomorrow.”

Before I could attempt to move, Killian took Henry’s legs off of his lap, stood, and lifted my son up into his arms so that I could stand. I gave Henry a kiss on the forehead and Hook a kiss on the cheek before I gathered the dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen.

“So you kissed him?”

Hook’s voice made me jump and I almost dropped a glass into the sink.

“Jesus!” I whispered. “What did I tell you about sneaking up on people like that?”

He walked around the island and leaned his shoulder against the fridge but kept his eyes down on his hands.

“You kissed him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Once, over ten _years _ago, just to get that girl off of his back. There’s no need to be jealous.”

“Is that right?” he asked in a hush tone when he finally looked up at me. “So he really wasn’t one of your… _boyfriends?_”

I chuckled at the way he said the word and scrunched his face up. “Do you even know what that means?”

Killian rolled his eyes. “Your lad felt the need to explain the terminology to me a while back.”

“No, he was never my boyfriend.” I stopped and tilted my head to the side. “In fact, I don’t think I have ever called someone my boyfriend, I was never comfortable enough to. Graham and I were just starting when he died. Then there was Walsh, but I was always adamant about saying that we were just dating when ever anyone asked, and when Neal and I were together it was only for a couple months and we never really put a label on it. We were just two people trying to survive.”

His lips went together like they always did when Neal was mentioned. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Yes, Ollie is just a friend. Actually, if I’m at a point in my life where I can finally admit something to myself that I never could back then…”

“What’s that?”

“Ollie and Felicity were family. For those couple years, they were all I had. But I was so broken that I refused to admit it to myself. When they said they were moving, I remember feeling use to it. Like I had waited for it to come, because everyone left. They were upset, but I couldn’t understand why. It’s funny what wisdom comes as you get older.”

Killian smiled and leaned forward to give me a kiss on my nose. “It’s because what you have now is different, love, and you’re not that lonely girl anymore.”

I reached up and played with his necklace.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._

“You have your parents,” he explained. “Your boy…” “You?” I asked in a whisper.

He wrapped his arms around my waist. “Aye, me.”

I went up on my toes to give him a kiss but stopped when my brother started to cry. Killian kissed my forehead before I turned to go to the bassinet.

"Emma?" I heard my father whisper as he moved to get out of the bed. "You guys sleep," I whispered to him. "I'll take care of Neal."

He nodded sleepily at me before he laid back down. I picked Neal up and held him against my chest as I walked back to the kitchen. He started to fuse more and I patted his back.

"The little prince hungry?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't think so, he just probably had a bad dream." Killian nodded. "He gets any louder he's going to wake every one up." "Yeah, let's take him upstairs. Can you make sure the front door is locked?"

He agreed and I took my brother upstairs. He had just started to get a little louder when Killian finally came up and closed the door.

"Come on, buddy. Shhhh," I mumbled as I rubbed his back and bounced him around. Killian started to get undressed. "You sure he's okay, love?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, the memories I have of Henry as a baby may be fake, but I know when a baby is just being fussy."

Killian went to unbutton his pants and I turned bright red and moved around. He obviously had no problems with stripping down in front of me, but I could not stare at his body while I was trying to calm my brother.

"Shhhhh," I repeated as the baby continued to cry.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" Killian asked as he walked up to me looking yummy with no shirt on and black pajama pants.

I shook my head.

_Focus, Emma._

"No, he'll be fine, finish getting ready."

When he moved to the bathroom, I sat down on the bed and wrapped my arm around Neal as I leaned down to unzip my boot. It wasn't easy to pull the boot off with one hand, but by the time Killian emerged from the bathroom I had both boots off. I stood back up and bounced him more.

"Boy, do you have a mouth on you," I mumbled.

"Like sister like brother," Killian said with a chuckle. "Hey, there little prince. It's time to be quiet." Neal suddenly stopped crying and I looked down at his face to see him staring intently at Hook. "Did he just listen to you?"

Killian snorted. "Doubt it, love."

He moved to walk over to the bed and Neal started to cry again. "Hey! Hook! Get back over here!"

He looked at me confused and stood in front of me. I turned Neal around on my chest, cradled his bottom with my right arm, and wrapped my left arm around his stomach. I tilted his body so that he could look up at Killian and he stopped crying again.

"What?"

I laughed. "Looks like you have a fan!"

His brow went together in confusion before he looked down at the baby in my arms. I moved my head down to see Neal staring up at Killian before he smiled at him.

"Talk to him."

"And say what?" Hook asked in disbelief. Neal giggled and I did, too.

"Have you never been around a baby before?"

Hook reached up and scratched his ear. "Not much room for babies on a ship, love."

I pressed my lips together and went to move Neal again as my arm started to tingle, but as soon as I did, he started to cry.

"Okay, that's it. Sit down, Captain."

"For what?" He asked, but listened anyway.

I motioned with my head. "Lean back against the headboard and bring your knees up." "You putting me in your favorite position, love?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nope. You're going to hold the baby." Hook's eyes went wide. "Swan, I don't think..."

I leaned over him and placed Neal in his lap, with his back against Killian's thighs and his tiny baby legs on the Pirates stomach.

"He doesn't have much control over his body yet, and zero control of his neck, you'll have to make sure he doesn't squirm."

Killian looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes which caused me to chuckle. "Here, bring your hands up and put them on his waist."

He did what I said and I had to hold back my laugh at how big his hands looked on the baby's body. I stood up fully and put my hands on my hips. Neal had stopped crying again and stared intently at Killian's wide eyed face.

"Okay, give me five minutes to get changed," I said as I moved to the dresser. "Swan!" He called out in horror.

I giggled and shook my head. "You'll be alright, Captain. Just talk to him, he likes you." "But..."

I waved at him and walked to the bathroom to get changed. As I dressed, I could hear Killian's voice filter through the door.

"Don't know what she wants me to talk to you about, you're just a wee lad. Princess is out of her bleeding mind."

Neal giggled and I started to brush my teeth.

"Aye, you agree with me, little prince? Us men have to stick together before these women drive us all mad."

Neal gurgled and I turned the water off and put my toothbrush down.

"Exactly. You'll learn.... What's that? You like my rings? See that... Ahh little prince is pretty strong isn't he?"

I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my giggle.

"Your sister thinks I can't hear her laughing in there, but she forgets how well a captains ear is." I rolled my eyes and opened the bathroom door. "You sure about that old man?"

"Oyi!"

Neal giggled at him as I got into the bed. I snuggled into Hooks side and reached up to run my finger over the baby's fist that was clenched around his finger.

"Looks like you survived."

"Aye," Killian answered with a small smile, his eyes locked on the baby. "He's a strapping little prince. He has your nose."

I scrunched my face and moved my face closer to the baby. "You think?"

Killian hummed in response and I laid my head on his shoulder. We both sat there in silence as Neal waved his arms around while he gurgled and giggled.

"Want me to take him?" I asked with a yawn. He shook his head. "No, he's fine. S'not so bad."

"Well, he better fall asleep soon, or I'm not going to be able to drive tomorrow." "He's not going to fall asleep just sitting here. Are you, wee lad?"

"Maybe you can tell him a bedtime story."

We looked up to see Henry standing in the door way. "Hey, kid. You okay?"

He nodded and walked over to the side of the bed. "Uncle Neal woke me up so I wanted to get changed." "Your clothes are in the draw."

Henry nodded and went into the bathroom to get changed. I yawned again. "A bedtime story might work."

Killian looked down at me. "Aye?"

"It always helped me," Henry answered as he walked out of the bathroom in his pajamas. "Can I stay and listen."

"Sure, kid." I said as I sat up to make room for him.

"Can I... Can I sit next to you, Killian so I can look at Uncle Neal?" "Sure, lad."

I picked Neal up and he immediately started to cry. I shook my head and moved over so that Hook could move to the middle. Henry got into the bed next to Hook and pulled the covers up and over the Pirates legs before I put my brother back down.

Of course, he stopped crying as soon as he was placed back down on Killian's lap. "He likes you," Henry chuckled as he leaned forward and tickled the baby.

I snuggled into his chest, my hand went up to trace his tattoo, my tattoo, while he placed his hand on my hip.

"Okay then, let's see... A bedtime story for the little prince."

Killian was silent for a few seconds while Neal played with his rings.

"Oh, I know!" Henry said before he leaned up and whispered in Killian's ear. "Ah, good idea, lad. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Swan Princess..."

I closed my eyes with a smile and fell asleep to Killian's voice as he told my brother and my son our story.


	5. Chapter 5

#  Chapter Five

I woke up the next morning to the strangest sound and a flash of light. I squeezed my eyes tighter before I opened them. Killian lifted his head when I moved and we both looked up to see my mother and father standing in front of us.

Mary Margaret had the Polaroid camera in one hand, while her other hand waved a picture back and forth, while David had his hands on his hips with a stern look on his face.

A soft snore broke the silence and I looked to see Henry asleep on the other side of the bed with his head on Hooks shoulder.

"Good morning?" I said awkwardly.

Mary Margaret moved forward and it was then I realized Neal was still in Killian's lap. I sat up and stared at my father as she lifted my brother in her arms and walked out of the room.

"Hook," he said stiffly.

Killian cleared his throat. "Majesty."

David's eyes moved down and his brow went together before they moved back up. "A word?"

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Killian nodded and Henry started to stir. He opened his eyes and sat up.

"Morning, grandpa," he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.

"Good morning, Henry. Why don't you and your mother go downstairs and get yourselves some breakfast?"

"Dad..."

"Emma, listen to your father."

I looked over at Killian and gave him a small smile before I got up. "Come on, kid," I lifted my hand to Henry.

He took it and we walked downstairs. Henry ran to the island, sat down, and immediately started to load his plate when Mary Margaret walked up to me.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I had no idea you guys took Neal upstairs last night and when your father said he was going to get him, I figured Hook was already gone."

"Uncle Neal didn't fall asleep until late, he kept giggling at Hook's bedtime story," Henry said with a mouth full of food.

"Was he mad? He looks mad?"

She shook her head and walked back to the kitchen. "No, he was the one that came down and told me to get the camera."

I rolled my eyes and followed her. Of course David would play the tough Dad act in front of Hook. "What time did you fall asleep?" I asked Henry as I filled my coffee mug.

Henry looked up as if he was trying to remember. "I fell asleep around the time Hook let you win at the lake."

My eyes went wide. "He let me win?"

Mary Margaret laughed and shook her head. "Of course he did." My brow went together in confusion. "But why?"

She walked up and handed me the Polaroid photo she had taken. "You tell me."

I looked down and my throat went tight. Henry was sleeping on his side with his head on Killian's shoulder, Neal was sleeping in his lap with his tiny fist around his finger, I was sleeping with my head on his chest and my arm wrapped around his waist, and Killian was sleeping with his face in my hair almost like he leaned down to breathe me in but fell asleep and his arm around my shoulders.

We looked like a... Family.

"Can you make a couple copies of that, dear?"

My mother’s voice broke me out of my thoughts. I nodded and put my coffee cup down before I waved my hand over the photo and three more appeared.

One for Mom, one for Dad, one for Henry, and one for myself.

David came down the steps fifteen minutes later and chuckled when Mary Margaret raised her eyebrow.

"I didn't kill him. He's getting changed," he picked up on of the extra photos and smiled at it before he placed it back on the island. "But do give me some credit, Emma. As much as you and your mother would have liked to believe, I've known he's been here since the first night."

Henry chucked and I just shook my head. "You are all hilarious."

***

I stepped out of my car and walked back toward my parents. They insisted on following us to the town line to say good bye.

"Do you have everything you need?" My mother asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I didn't have to pack much because I still have clothes there and I'm going take Hook shopping tomorrow for some extra things he'll need."

"Weapons?" David asked.

"My gun is in the glove box and his cutlass is in the trunk." "The scroll?" She asked worriedly.

I patted my pocket where the scroll was safely kept.

She took a stuttering breath and pulled me into her arms. "Be careful. Call us when you get there. We are going over Regina's tonight for dinner, so you'll be able to talk to Henry, too."

"Okay, I will," I whispered.

We pulled apart and looked up to see Regina's car pull up and a slight panic stared to rise in me. "What's wrong? Is it Henry?" I asked as she got out of the car.

"Did you forget something?" She asked as she pulled her hand out of her pocket and waved a bottle around.

I let out a breath of relief and turned to Hook who was talking to my father. "The healing potion," I said with a motion toward the Queen.

"Well, that would have been awkward," Mary Margaret giggled. Hook took the potion from Regina. "Now?"

She nodded. "Yes, you'll want it to actually heal before you cross or you'll be trying to attach a limb and that won't work."

He nodded and quickly downed the potion. Hook handed the vial back to her before he hollered out and grabbed his left wrist.

"What the hell?!" I cried out and rushed over to his side. "What's happening?!"

His jaw clenched and his hands shook for a few seconds before he finally relaxed and breathed through his nose.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you? Tendons and muscles growing back will be a little painful for a minute," Regina mocked innocents with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes as Hook glared at her.

"Maybe that'll teach you to be a little nicer next time you ask me for a favor." He cradled his left wrist and hissed out, "Aye."

Regina turned to my mother and pulled out another vial. "I need you to hold this." "Is that another potion?" I asked.

"Yes, but this one’s for me," Regina said with a sigh. "It's a memory potion. When Emma comes back, can you put it in a drink for me without my knowledge?"

Mom took the vial, confusion all over her face. "Why?"

Regina fidgeted like she normally did when she was nervous. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not remember that we have a way to leave the town, it'll make....................................................... Things easier. And I can't trust myself to

take it."

"Won't you lose time and wonder why?" David asked.

She shook her head. "No, it also has false memories of your daughter being here in it. I'll never know she left."

My mother agreed and put the potion in her pocket. Regina turned to me and gave me a nod. "Have a safe trip, Miss Swan."

"Bye Regina. Give Henry a kiss for me."

She nodded and walked back to her car. Mary Margaret walked over to Hook. I smiled as she hugged him and whispered in his ear. Killian closed his eyes for a second before he nodded back at her and returned the hug. My brow went together in confusion as David walked up to me.

"Don't worry about us here. Just make sure you come home," he told me. "I promise. Keep an eye on Henry for me."

He nodded. "Of course."

David pulled me in for a hug then kissed me on the forehead when he pulled away.

"Come back to us, Emma." He whispered as my mother walked up and wrapped her arm around his waist.

"If I can't, you'll find me," I said with tears in my eyes. "Always," they both answered forcefully.

"I love you guys."

"We love you, too, sweetheart," mom answered tearfully. I gave them one last smile before I turned toward Hook. "Ready, Swan?"

"Ready."

We got into the car and I started it up. As we drove over the town line, I couldn't help but let out a sob as they disappeared in my review window. Killian reached over with his still intact left hand and placed it on my thigh.

"New York here we come," I mumbled.

***

The ride was long, but not at all bad. We listened to music, talked about random things, Killian told me stories of tales on the Jolly and I told him about things Henry did that year we were away. I even tried to get out of him what he and my father talked about but he kept his mouth shut, much to my disappointment.

"The prince and I came to an understanding, Swan. Nothing to fret about."

I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “You’re holding things back, and that’s okay, I just wanted to make sure…”

“He saw my tattoo.”

I my head snapped over toward him before I looked back at the road.

“This morning, that’s why he wanted to talk.” Killian scratched the back of his neck. “Look, Swan, it’s bad form to tell you a conversation between your father and I when it was meant to be just between us… I don’t want to keep anything from you, but…”

I sighed. “It’s fine. I understand. Just as long as everything is okay.” Killian squeezed my thigh in reassurance.

As we neared New York, we started to talk about what little lies we had to tell Oliver and Felicity.

"They are going to want to see pictures and I can't necessarily tell them that Mary Margaret and David are my parents when they are the same age as me," I said with a sigh.

"Aye, that might take a little longer to explain."

"And I can't say they are just friends because whoever sees me and sees David says we look alike." "You could always say he's your brother," Killian offered.

I pondered for a minute. "That could work." My phone beeped and I asked Hook to read it. "It's one of those telegrams."

"It's called a text message, and try not to talk tech, especially around Felicity. If you mess up, she'll take it personally."

"Personally?"

"Don't worry, you'll like her. Everybody does. Who is it from?" I asked as I shifted gears.

"Ugh," Killian held the phone up in front of his face. "Your friend. 'The key for the new lock is under the mat, and I don't want to hear any shit, it's been there less than two hours, I haven't lost my touch' and there is some sort of face next to it, I don't know."

I laughed. "Like I said, please don't talk tech around Felicity. We'll have a run through later tonight." Killian put my phone down and took a sip from his flask.

"Do they know about Henry?"

I nodded. "I got drunk one night and cried the whole story to Ollie, a couple years later he asked me if he could tell Felicity. She and I had a little argument and like I said before I wasn't use to people staying, and she didn't understand why. He said it would help her understand, so I told him I didn't care. She's never mentioned anything to me about it, but I'm assuming he told her because she never questioned the way I felt about things again. Shit!"

"What?"

I sighed. "Ollie hates Neal." "Has he ever met him?"

"No, but you have to remember, the last time I saw them it was before I knew the whole story and my feelings toward Neal weren't exactly kosher..."

I saw Killian nod from the corner of my eye.

"I mean, it's not like I haven't moved on from it, I'll never forget but..." "Bae did a lot of things, but he did love you, Swan," he stated softly.

My hands gripped the steering wheel. My feelings toward Neal were still conflicted. I know knew why he did what he did, but part of me couldn't let go of that anger toward him. I loved him and he abandoned me.

I shook my head as I pulled into the parking garage under my old apartment complex. "It doesn't matter. It's not like we can tell them the truth so our best bet is to try not to mention Neal at all."

I turned the car off and pulled my wallet out of the center console. We got out of the car at the same time and I stretched my sore muscles as Killian grabbed our one bag from the back. I wasn't lying when I said we didn't need much, I still had clothes in the apartment and Killian could get new clothes when we went shopping. So we only packed the necessities.

"I really need to teach you how to drive stick," I groaned as I stretched my back until it cracked.

"Shouldn't I be the one teaching you how to drive my stick, love?" He asked with a smirk and wiggled his eyebrows.

I laughed and shook my head.

"Let's go," I started to walk but Killian but his hand up to stop me. "There's something I have to do first."

"Yeah what's tha..."

I was cut off by Killian slamming his lips against mine. He pushed me back until I was leaning against the car. I hesitated for a second before I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer to me. Killian groaned when I opened my mouth and gave him the access he wanted.

We stood in the garage making out until we were forced to pull away to breathe. Killian pressed his forehead against my own as we both tried to catch our breath.

I brought my hands in front and cupped his face. I rubbed my thumbs along his stubble as I leaned in for one more kiss.

"Feel free to do that anytime," I whispered before I looked up at him through my eyelashes. "As you wish," he whispered back.

We took the elevator up and when we approached the door with the large numbers of 311 I took a deep breath. The last time I was in the apartment was when Henry and I left with Hook to go back to Storybrooke.

"You alright, Swan?"

I nodded. "Yeah, just feels weird."

I grabbed the key from its hiding spot and unlocked the door. When I walked in, I was flooded with all the memories I had in that apartment. Regina's curse had us believe that we had lost everything in a fire, so when we moved into the apartment, we had to start new.

_Which would explain why there was no evidence of the fake memories I had of keeping Henry._

My steps slowed as I walked down the hallway toward the kitchen. I looked down to see the cuff in the paint from where I had tossed my keys that one time Walsh pissed me off, on the table against the wall sat a pile of mail Oliver must have brought in and cleaned up when he first got there, next to a vase Henry had bought me for Christmas.

When I stepped into the kitchen, I looked to the fridge and saw little notes I had written to myself about appointments and meetings along with drawings Henry had done in school.

The island in the kitchen had a chip in it from when we bought the new fridge and the movers bumped into it. I ran my thumb over the chip and smiled.

I inhaled deeply and picked up the napkin that was on the island.

# David and Mary Margaret Nolan. (207) 358 - 9821

I had that note in my pocket when Henry and I left Storybrooke. I remembered searching the car frantically as the curse bore down on the town, I remembered how I sobbed when I found it and used an eyeliner pen to write that had been stuffed in the glove box. I wanted to keep something in hopes that it would let me remember. It never did. My brows went together as I tried to remember what happened to the napkin, but I couldn't recall. The last memory I had of it was when I wrote it. But I obviously kept it. I traced the symbol drawn next to the number with my finger. To any normal person, it looked like a question mark, but I knew what I was trying to write with only seconds left.

In my failed attempt to remember my parents, I also wanted to remember one other person. "What's that, love?"

I sniffled and turned to him. "A failed attempt I had forgotten about."

I picked up the napkin and handed it to him. Killian took it and looked down. "Your parent’s number."

I crossed my arms and nodded. "That's how Ollie was able to call." He shook his head. "I don't understand."

My hands started to shake so I put them in my back pockets and motioned with my head.

"Before the curse hit, when Henry and I got in the car, before we drove away, I wrote that down. I had hoped that it would help me remember, or at the very least, leave me with a piece of the people I wanted to remember."

Killian's jaw clenched and I watched as he swallowed, his eyes locked on the napkin. "And... The symbol?" He asked in what sounded like fear.

I bit my lip and shrugged my shoulders. "The three people I was scared about forgetting the most."

Killian lifted his hand, wrapped it around the back of my neck, and pulled me until our foreheads were touching. He started to breathe heavy as he closed his eyes and licked his lips.

"Don't freak out," he whispered and my heart started to race.

He only said that me before he said something else. I gasped, looked at his closed eyes and gave a slight nod.

Killian opened his eyes, they were a beautiful shade of blue. His thumb rubbed underneath my ear and he spoke.

"I love you."

My lungs exhaled and my heart screamed at me to say the words that were echoing inside of me.

_I love you, too. I love you so much._

My heart screamed for me to speak but my head wouldn't let me.

_Don't do it. Things will change. What we have works._

And because that fear that I still carried with me always won, I did the next best thing. I reached up, grabbed his face in my hands and kissed him with all the love in my heart.

***

"Okay, I'm going to say this, and I know it makes me sound like a bloody wanker, but I don't care," Killian rambled out as he walked out of my old bedroom.

I looked up from the remote in my hand and raised my eyebrows.

He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I can't share a bed with you that you've shared with your... beast 'almost fiancé'."

My jaw dropped open and Killian huffed. "Don't look at me like that, Swan."

I smiled at how cute he looked, put the remote down, and walked over to him. "Well, then Captain," I put my hands on his chest.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._

"You'll be interested to know that you will be the first man to ever share that bed with me." His eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

My hands ran up his chest until I crossed them behind his neck as he wrapped his around my waist.

"I never let Walsh stay over. He actually rarely came in the apartment. I wasn't comfortable with him being here or staying here because of Henry. He came for dinner a couple times and to pick me up for dates, but that's it. Happy?"

Killian's face broke out in a huge grin.

"Very, Swan." He moved his hands to my hips and ran then up my sides in a very suggestive way.

My skin started to heat up and I started to breathe harder. Killian leaned forward until his lips were brushing against my own.

"Would you like me to show you how much?" His tone was low and husky. I let out a whimper and nodded.

"Yes," I breathed out. Beep, beep.

Killian's eyes closed and his forehead fell against my own. "Bloody hell," he groaned, his hands tightened on my hips.

He let go of me and I walked over to my phone. It was a text from Henry.

# We are all signed in and waiting.

I walked over and picked up the discarded remote. I held it up to the TV and hit the power button as Killian came around the couch and sat down.

"Really, Swan? Moving picture time, _now_?"

I chuckled and handed him the note that was left for me before I sat down next to him and signed on the TV.

Killian read the note out loud, "'Emma, I installed a video chat on your TV so you could talk to your friends from home while you're here helping us. It's all set up all you have to do is log in. Think of it as part of our thank you. See you soon! Felicity'." He leaned forward and put the note on the table as I hit the call button on the remote. "What the bloody hell is a video cha..."

Henry, David, and Mary Margaret appeared on the screen. "Mom!"

Killian's eyes went wide.

"Hey guys." I said with a smile.

"Oh, Emma, thank god!" Mom breathed out.

"They can see us right now, Swan?" Killian asked as he motioned toward the TV. "And hear you, Hook," Dad answered with a chuckle.

He turned his head back to the screen in shock.

"It's like a phone call but we can see each other," I explained to him. "How was the drive? Any problems?" Mom asked.

We Video chatted with Henry and my parents for a little while until Regina called them away for dinner. We promised to call again the next day and finally hung up.

"Well, what did you think?" I asked Killian when the video ended.

"It's like a magic mirror," he said with a shrug. "They can't see here whenever they wish though, can they?"

I giggled and shook my head. "No. We have to accept the call." He smirked at me which caused me to blush and said, "Good."

"I should call Oliver and Felicity," I said with a sigh as I leaned forward to grab my phone. "I'm surprised they aren't here already, Felicity has never been the patient type."

The phone rang twice before Oliver answered. "You're here aren't you?"

"Ugh, yes, we got here about an hour ago, just settling in and stuff, everything okay?" Oliver sighed. "Yeah, it's fine. Just this perp gave me a hard time, today of all days."

My ears perked up as I settled back on the couch and intertwined my fingers with Killian's. "Anything I can help with?"

"No, no. We got him. Bastard just thought it would be fun to hide out in a Zoo." I snorted. "They do get creative. We're fine. I mean, I'm a little hungry..."

"I think Felicity stocked your fridge, too."

I laughed in my throat and shook my head. "Of course she did." "She also suggested ordering in so we could catch up."

"Yeah that sounds fine, we can figure it out when you guys get here."

"Okay. Give us like an hour. Felicity is already home, she's just going to swing by and grab me and we'll be there. I don't work far from your apartment."

"Alright, Ollie. We'll see you then."

I hung up the phone and tossed it on the coffee table. I turned to face Killian, bent my elbow on the back of the couch, and rested my head on my hand.

"They'll be here in about an hour. We're just going to order in tonight, give us a chance to catch up." Killian nodded with a smile.

We sat in silence for a couple of seconds before I grinned.

"Want to make out on the couch like a couple of teenagers until they get here?"

He looked over at me with a sexy grin before he pounced. My squeal/giggled echoed off the walls.


	6. Chapter 6

#  Chapter Six

I had just finished downing a bottle of water when there was a knock on the front door. Apparently making out for almost an hour made a person incredibly thirsty.

And extremely turned on.

I tried not to think about why Killian had to rush to the bathroom when he stood up. "Come in!" I called out as I tossed the water bottle in the trash.

Killian walked back into the room just as the front door opened.

"Emma Swan," I turned around to see Oliver and Felicity walk through the door and I couldn't help the huge grin that broke out on my face. "Damn, girl if you aren't a sight for sore eyes!"

I laughed and practically ran down the hall. I didn't make it very far before Oliver met me, wrapped his arms around my waist and hoisted me into the air as he gave me a bone crushing hug.

"Ollie!" I giggled/cried out.

My feet dangled off the ground and he gave me a little shake. "Oliver! Stop hogging her!" Felicity cried out from behind him.

I laughed as Oliver put me back on the ground. He stepped aside just as Felicity squealed before she did a little jump and pulled me into her arms.

"You're here!! I can't believe you're actually here!" Felicity cried out as we hugged each other.

Tears threatened to spill because I hadn't realized until that very moment how much I missed them.

Felicity pulled away first but kept a hold of my arms. "Oh my god, look at you, Emma! You haven't changed one bit!"

"Neither have you!" I exclaimed. "Have you aged at all? Did you invent some microchip that keeps people from aging?"

She had looked the same as the last time I saw her. Thick framed glasses and blonde hair in a pony tail. Felicity giggled.

"Seriously, Em," Oliver started. "You look them same and just as gorgeous as you did when you were twenty three."

I chuckled. "Well, I wish I could say the same about you!" Oliver showed mock hurt and I let go of Felicity's to smack him in the arms. "Hello, biceps! You know, anabolic steroids are really bad for you."

Oliver actually looked down as he cheeks started to tint. He was tall, he always towered over us, and as I looked at him, I could see why women use to throw themselves at him. Oliver was an attractive man, his dirty blonde hair was cute short, almost a buzz cut on top of his head, and he was built. His eyes were blue, but paler than Killian's, and the scruff on his jaw was just past the five o'clock shadow mark.

"I'm serious! Christ, your arms are like tree trunks, Felicity, how do you find shirts that fit him?" "They only need to fit for eight hours of the day," Felicity answered with a wink.

I laughed but turned when I heard a throat clear from behind me. Killian stood there staring at us as he scratched his ear.

"Oh! Hey!" I walked up to him and could tell by the way he clenched his jaw he had witnessed Oliver picking me up.

"Guys," I motioned for them to come closer.

"Killian, these are my friends. This is Oliver Queen..." I started with a motion toward Ollie. Both men held out their hands and exchanged a handshake.

"Good to meet you."

"Aye, you too, mate."

"And Felicity Queen." I finished with a motion toward Felicity. She stuck her hand out too which Killian accepted.

"Pleasure, lass."

"It's nice to meet you."

"Oliver, Felicity, this is Killian, my..." I looked up at him to see him staring back at me with tight lips. I smiled and turned back to my friends. "Boyfriend."

A small smile appeared on Killian’s face as he stared at me. It was the first time in my adult life that I had ever called someone my boyfriend, even then it seemed like it wasn’t good enough to describe what we were to each other, but it worked in that moment. I blushed and looked down at my feet before I turned back to my friends.

Both Oliver and Felicity's jaw dropped. We all stood there in silence before Felicity spoke. "Boyfriend??" She gasped in shock.

"Mmhm," I answered.

"Like, actual, dating-holding-hands-in-a-committed-relationship, _boyfriend_?" Oliver asked. Before I could answer he crossed his arms, turned to Killian and gasped out in shock, "Oh my god, what is that even like?"

"Hey!" I cried out and Killian chuckled. "Can I hug you?" Felicity gasped.

Killian's eyes went wide before Felicity took and step forward and gave him a hug. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, you guys are being a little ridiculous."

"Be quiet, Emma," Oliver threw at me before he turned to Killian who had just finished his hug with Felicity. He looked at him like he had the answers to the universe. "Dude, me and you? We're going to talk, I have so many questions."

I huffed. "Jesus, Ollie. You're like a twelve year old girl." "A very manly, twelve year old girl, hunnie."

My eyes blazed and Felicity stepped forward and took Killian's arm.

"I want to learn more about Killian, you two have fun bickering," she called out as she pulled Killian into the dining room.

"You have a _boyfriend_?!" He gasped again. "Yes!"

"Boyfriend?"

"How many more times are you going to repeat it before it sinks in?" I growled out.

"Give me a minute here, Em. This is a lot to take in at the moment," he said as he put his hand on his chest to mock me.

My hand went to my hip and I tilted my head. "Really? Is it that hard of a concept to believe?" "Yes!" Felicity called out from the dining room table.

I turned around and sent a shocked look at her.

"Emma was so anti...well everything the last time we saw her!" Felicity explained to Killian. "We are so talking about this," Oliver whispered to me as we walked over to the table.

"No, we're not!" I whispered back. "Yes we are!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"And now you two are sitting which means you are in Switzerland territory and all bickering comes to an end," Felicity stated with a smile as I sat down next to Killian and Oliver sat across from us next to Felicity.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he just laughed.

"If a stranger ever met these two they would think they absolutely hated each other," Felicity said to Killian. "They bicker worse than siblings."

Killian turned to me with an amused look to which I answered with a scrunched up nose. He chuckled and moved his hand to lace his fingers through my own before he brought them up to his mouth and kissed the back of my hand.

"Aw," we heard Felicity say which caused us to look away from each other.

I groaned when I saw them staring at us like they were watching some sappy romantic comedy. "Our little Emma is all grown up, Oliver," Felicity whispered as she wiped away a fake tear.

"I know, dear!" Oliver faked a choked up voice. I blushed and looked down.

"You guys are embarrassing me!" I hissed out.

"You get embarrassed, Swan?" Killian asked with a smirk before he turned back to Oliver and Felicity. “Please, do more of this so that I can witness it.”

Oliver laughed. "Oh yeah, I like him Emma."

"How long have you guys been seeing each other?" Felicity asked. "Um," I looked over at Killian who chuckled.

"Wait," Oliver interrupted. "I think what my wife meant to ask was, how long did it take for Emma to finally give in!"

Felicity nodded. "Yes, exactly."

"Really, you guys?" I asked as Killian let out a full belly laugh. "They've got you pegged, love."

"Fine, easier question, how did you guys meet?" Felicity asked and when both Killian and I chuckled she answered back with, "Really?!"

"Well, ugh," I looked at Killian. "I was on a trip with my ugh, sister in law..."

"Wait, sister in law?!" Felicity gasped before she started to ramble. "You mean actual sister in law? How do you have a sister in law? What's her name? What..."

"Sweetie," Oliver stopped her. "One story at a time." Felicity shook her head. "Right, continue."

I pulled my leg up into the chair and wrapped my left arm around it.

"We got lost," I explained and I saw Killian smile to himself. "And Killian here shows up pretending to be lost, too. Had the whole helpless act and puppy dog eyes, too. Complete bullshit by the way."

"Oyi! I think my act was done quite well, thank you very much. S'not my fault you're a bleeding walking lie detector."

Oliver and Felicity both laughed.

"Anyway, I knew he was lying and politely asked him to tell us the truth."

Killian snorted. "Aye, if you call holding a knife to my neck and tying me to a tree, nicely!" Oliver smacked his hand down on the table he was laughing so hard.

"Got you to tell me the truth didn't it?" I asked with a smirk. Killian smiled back at me. "That it did, love."

I turned back to my friends. "We were on this... Island and Mary Margaret and I got lost and couldn't figure out a way back to the ferry to take us back to our... Hotel. We come across Ho... Killian and he finally admits that..."

Killian sat up and took over. "I was a thief, no real way to cut around it," both Oliver and Felicity shrugged and gave him a nod of respect. "I meant to rob them blind."

"But, I called him out on it and instead of doing that, he decided to help us find our way back to the ferry." Killian's thumb rubbed the outside of my hand as I tried to think of a way to continue. There was a lot to leave out and a lot to change, so I just tried to keep it simple.

"We got about half way there when I probably made the dumbest decision I have ever made in my entire life," I admitted.

Killian's brow went together in confusion as he looked at me. "Oh, Emma, please tell me you didn't..." Felicity asked.

I nodded but kept my eyes on Killian. "Even though since the moment he told me who he really was, he hadn't lied to me once, I couldn't take the chance I was wrong about him. So I tied him up and left him there so that Mary Margret and I could go home."

He gave me a sad smile before he looked over at Oliver when he spoke. "What did you do?"

"Well, I went after her, of course. I found out where she was lived and followed her back to her wor... home."

I looked at him and smiled before I turned back to my friends. That was all they needed to know. "How long ago was that?"

"Ugh, two, two and half years ago, maybe?"

"Two and a half years?? Jesus, Emma! And how long have you guys been together?"

I opened my mouth, but Killian spoke, "I would say roughly a year. Sound about right, love?"

I pressed my lips together. He was right of course, in my mind, since the moment he knocked on the door not twenty feet away from us, I had been his. Even when I tried to fight it, I knew deep down, I was his.

"Yes," I whispered.

He smiled and kissed my hand again.

***

"We could order Chinese!" Felicity suggested as she uncorked a bottle of wine.

"Oh! Dumplings," I said as I grabbed Felicity's tablet and held it up for Killian and I to look at.

At some point of us all catching up, I had inched my chair closer to Killian's, turned toward him, threw my legs across his lap and used the edge of his seat to rest my heels on.

He in turn had his left arm draped over the back of my chair, his fingers gently rubbing my shoulder, while his right hand was placed on my ankle.

I touched the device and brought up the website for the nearest Chinese restaurant that delivered. "Ugh, what the bloody hell is Chinese?" Killian asked me in a whisper.

I giggled and patted his cheek.

"Don't worry, I'll get you something I know you'll like," I whispered back.

He turned his head and kissed the inside of my palm before I pulled it away. There was something different between us, ever since we had arrived in New York, it was almost like we couldn't stop touching each other. I was never one for PDA, but I had to admit it felt really nice.

"We better get extra dumplings so Emma doesn't eat them all!" Oliver stated as he walked back from the bathroom.

"I'll eat the extra ones, too," I mumbled which caused Killian to chuckle.

Felicity walked back over to the table and placed two wine glasses down in front of us. "Thanks, lass."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile before she retrieved the other two and sat back down. "So Chinese?"

I finished hitting buttons on her tablet and handed it back to her. "Yeah, this place has online ordering and they are pretty good. I put mine and Killian's order in."

After they were done placing their order, we continued our conversation. "So, how come you two haven't had any kids yet?" I asked.

Oliver and Felicity exchanged a look and my eyes went wide. "No way! When?! How many?? I've missed so much!"

Oliver chuckled as Felicity picked her tablet back up and started to swipe. "Just one," he started. "Her name is Thea Moria Queen, and she's three." "And she looks just like her father," Felicity said with a roll of her eyes.

She handed me the tablet and I gasped. On the screen was a picture of the most adorable little girl I had ever seen.

"Oh my god, she's beautiful, and you are right Felicity, wow. She looks just like you, Ollie." "Thank you, but she gets that all her good looks from her mother."

I looked up just in time to see Oliver lean over and give his wife a kiss and I couldn't help but smile. "Aye," Killian agreed. "That's a precious little princess you two have there."

I swiped through the photos and smiled at them.

"Oh don't get me started on princesses," Felicity said with a sigh before she took a sip of her wine. "Everything is princesses right now, princess this, Princess that."

Killian and I exchanged an amused look before I handed her back the tablet. "She's too cute, guys."

"You guys will have to come over for dinner while you're in town so you can meet. She's with the nanny now and I'm assuming everything is okay since we haven't gotten any 911 calls yet." Oliver snickered.

We continued our conversation and about a half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. "Food!" I turned to Killian. "Do you have that money I gave you earlier?"

He nodded and moved to take it out of his inside pocket of his leather jacket. "Oh don't worry about it, guys, I already put it on our card," Felicity explained. I pressed my lips together. "Well, let us at least tip."

Killian pulled the money out and something square. I handed a couple dollars to Oliver who volunteered to get it, when I noticed Killian putting the other object back in his pocket.

"Hey, what's that?"

His cheeks tinted and he reached up to scratch his ear before he handed it to me. I turned it around and smiled when I saw that it was the Polaroid Mary Margaret had taken that morning.

"Did you steal this from the loft?"

'Pirate' he mouthed to me and I just rolled my eyes. I turned the photo over and showed it to Felicity.

"Oh my god! When was this? Wait! Is that a baby?" Her head shot up. "Do you two have a baby?!" "What??" Oliver cried out as he ran back with the food.

Killian and both started to shake our heads. "No, no, no. That's my b... Nephew, Neal."

Both Oliver and Felicity looked up at me with raised eyebrows. "Coincidence," I said with a shrug and a pang of guilt ran through my body. Killian squeezed my ankle in reassurance as I took a sip of my wine. "Who's the other kid?"

I took a deep breath. "That's my son."

Oliver grabbed the photo. "That's him? You met him?"

I nodded and turned to Killian. "Are the pictures in the bedroom?" "Aye, love. I'll go get them."

I moved my legs so he could stand. He gave me a kiss on the forehead before he walked to the bedroom.

Oliver started to unpack the food while Felicity leaned forward on the table. "I love him!" She whispered.

I blushed and bit my lip. "Yeah, he's really great." "Plus, not too bad to look at!" She said with a giggle.

"It's okay, sweetie. I'm only your husband," Oliver grumbled.

Felicity smacked his arm and we both laughed as Killian walked back into the room with the envelope. I thanked him and pulled the pictures out to go through them as he sat down and placed his left hand on my thigh. I smiled at the picture of me and Henry and handed it to them.

"Oh, Emma he's so handsome!" Felicity gasped.

"He showed up on my doorstep three years ago. 'My name is Henry, and I'm you're son'." I repeated the words Henry spoke to me and I smiled at the memory. I picked another photo and handed it to them. "This is his adoptive mother, Regina. We didn't really get along at first, things were... complicated. But now we're friends. I really have to praise her. She did an amazing job raising him."

We continued to show them photos and explained who each person was. When they got to a photo of David and me, I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes.

"Wow! Emma you two look alike!" Oliver stated.

Killian and I exchanged a look. "Yeah, I mean, it was weird, finding out that I had a... brother. But it's great. I couldn't imagine my life without them. We're a family."

Felicity put her hand to her heart. "God, Emma. You're so different, and it's so amazing. You're just so happy."

I blushed, opened the carton of food and placed it in front of Killian. "Well..." I trailed off.

Oliver chuckled. "I can see some things will never change though. You still can't talk about emotional things."

I picked up a fortune cookie and threw it at him, "Shut up."

We started to eat as Oliver and Felicity continued to go through the photos. I watched out of the corner of my eye has Killian grabbed his fork and took a bite of his food. I tried to keep it pretty simple for him, shrimp lo mien. His eyebrows rose before he looked at me and nodded. I gave myself a mental pat on the back and went on to eat my food.

Oliver and Felicity continued to ask questions and Killian and I tried to answer them with as little lies as possible.

As they examined a photo of Henry and Neal, I picked up a dumpling with my fork and offered it to Killian.

"Want to try it?" He looked at me. "I think you'll like it."

Killian opened his mouth and I fed him the dumpling. He chewed it for a second before he nodded his approval again.

"Man, she gave you a dumpling?? She must really love you!" Oliver exclaimed and Killian and I froze. I picked up my wine and took a big gulp while Killian chuckled nervously.

"Aye?"

"Last time I tried to take one of her dumplings, she stabbed me with a fork!" I rolled my eyes. "It was a plastic fork!"

Oliver glared and lifted his forearm and pointed. "I still have the scar!"

"Stop being a big baby, sweetie," Felicity said with a wave of her hand. "She warned you she would do it."

"Well, I guess that means you're right, mate," Killian said before he looked over at me. "She must."

Killian and I stared at each other before I breathed out a chuckle and shook my head. He just squeezed my thigh and continued to eat.


	7. Chapter 7

#  Chapter Seven

"So, how do you know he's back?" I asked in a hushed voice. Killian rubbed his thumb on my thigh.

Oliver sighed and leaned his elbows on the table as Felicity took her cell phone out and handed it to me.

I grabbed the phone and leaned up in my chair so that Killian could see, too. On the screen were messages from a blocked number.

# Hello, sweetness.

**I'm going to need you to do something for me.**

**Don't think just because you're married to Queen I won't get to you, you screwed me over years ago and now you're going to pay, keep your mouth shut and no one will get hurt.**

I handed the phone back to Felicity and chanced a look at Killian. His jaw clenched as he fiddled with the rings on his right hand.

I shook my head. "I don't understand, Felicity you've always been good with computers. You're the reason I know half the tricks I know. Why haven't you been able to locate him?"

"The only thing I can think of is that he's being smart, he knows how good I am with tech so he's staying off the grid. I haven't found a single trace of him, and the number he sent those messages from are from a burner phone, paid with by cash."

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my seat.

"Does he have any known associates in town? Family? Someone he would stay with?"

Oliver shook his head. "His father was never around and his mother passed away years ago. He was an only child and no friends that we are aware of."

I shook my head. "It doesn't make any sense. He's obviously been getting by on his own, why come back over ten years later?"

"Aye, it sounds like there's another angle here."

"Whatever it is, I'm not going to do it. I've looked up his criminal record and there is no way I'm helping him add more things to his list."

Oliver took his wife's hand in his own and kissed her temple.

"Well, lass, we're here to help, and if there's one thing I know about Emma it's that she never fails," Killian stated and I smiled at him.

_I love you_

***

I put my head in my hands and groaned as Killian and Oliver's laughter rang out through the apartment.

"I hate you so much, Ollie!" I mumbled with a shake of my head.

"Wait, you didn't even hear the best part!" Oliver said between laughs to Killian.

I heard the distinct pop of another bottle of wine being opened from the kitchen and stood up. "I'm going to separate you two!" I warned with a glare.

"Aw, love. Don't be like that!" Killian said with a chuckle.

I rolled my eyes and went to the kitchen to join Felicity as Oliver continued to tell Killian stories of their failed attempts to set me up with someone years before.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to murder your husband," I told her as I placed my glass on the counter. Felicity laughed and filled it. "I always did tell him it was probably going to be you that did him in." I picked up my glass and took a sip. Felicity put the bottle down and put her hand on my arm.

"It is really good to see you again, Emma. We've missed you."

I smiled at her. "I missed you guys, too. I just didn't know how much until I saw you."

She wrapped her arms around me and we hugged for a couple seconds before we pulled away. We both leaned our hands on the island as we stared at our men laughing together.

"So you and Killian," she whispered in an attempt for them not to hear us, but I knew better.

Even though Killian was still laughing and talking to Oliver, I saw his back go straight, which meant he heard her. I put my finger up to my lips to tell her to be quiet before I picked up my glass of wine and motioned toward the back of the apartment. Felicity grabbed her glass and the bottle and we walked out of the kitchen.

"Hey, where are you two ladies going?" Oliver asked as Felicity put the bottle of wine on the table. "To talk about you two," I said with a smirk.

Killian raised his eyebrow and Oliver chuckled. "Always with the honesty, Em."

Felicity and I walked back to my bedroom and I closed the door behind us.

"You haven't told him yet have you?" Felicity asked as she perched herself on the bed. I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my wine before I placed it on the dresser.

"It wasn't hard to tell," she explained. "When Oliver made that comment you both went stiff." "It's complicated," I whispered.

"Emma, it's not that complicated. Just tell him, he clearly feels the same way." I sighed and sat next to her. "I know he does. He's told me before..."

Felicity's eyes went wide. "He told you? And he's okay with you not saying it back?"

"He knows what I've been through and how I am. I don't want to say he's okay with it but he hasn't pressured me. He hasn't pressured me about anything really," I mumbled.

"What do you mean?" I gave her a pointed look and her jaw dropped open. "You don't mean..." I nodded.

"You guys haven't slept together yet? Oh my god, you really do love him!" I snorted. "I love him because I haven't had sex with him yet?"

"You and I both know that sex never mattered much to you. But you're not sleeping with him, you're letting him in, Emma! That's so much better!" She squealed.

I giggled. "Shh, he has the ears of a fucking blood hound." "You guys are going to sleep together while you're here."

I looked at her like she was crazy and she nodded.

"From what you guys have said you don't really have alone time in Maine. You live with your brother and his wife and they have a new baby... It would be extremely awkward to try and have sex with them there."

I went and picked up my glass and sat back down. "That's true. But it's something else..." Felicity scoffed. "Don't tell me you think he doesn't want to?!"

I shrugged and took a sip of my wine. "I'm struggling. I mean, yes, opening up to him and snuggling is amazing, I do love it, but he's..."

"Hot!" Felicity cried out and we both giggled.

"So hot!" I groaned. "And the time we knew each other before we got together was just filled with innuendoes and sexual tension. But now? There are rarely any innuendoes and he doesn't even seem to... I don't know. There were a couple times I thought it was going to happen, but we got interrupted and it didn’t even faze him."

She put her hand and my arm and looked at me. "He wants to Emma. Trust me." I gave her a skeptic look. "How would you know?"

"For one, he's a man!" She explained and we both laughed. "Second, I've watched how he's looked at you when you're not paying attention all night. I've seen the way his jaw clenches when you whisper in his ear, or the way he bites his lip when you flip your hair, and the way his eyes just rake up and down your body whenever you stand or walk away."

My faced showed shock and she just nodded.

"That man out there is struggling just as much as you are, and the sad part is that you both probably have this thing built up in your head so much right now that you believe that it should be slow and sweet and beautiful... And what's really going to happen is that you're both just going to jump each other's bones. I bet you guys won't even get fully undressed."

I laughed and shook my head.

"I'm serious. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife. But not tonight! I know you, we are all drinking and you're going to want to, and so is he. But he seems like a gentleman to me and I have a

feeling he won't go through with it just because of the drinking and you'll get hurt and mad. So later tonight when we leave please take my advice and don't do it!"

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, alright!"

Felicity put her arm around my shoulder and squeezed me close to her as we both laughed. There was a knock on the bedroom door before it opened.

"Hey, Em. A video call came through from your son, Killian is talking to him now."

I looked at my watch. "Ah, he's probably going to bed. You guys want to meet Henry?" "Yes!" Felicity cried out as she jumped up and ran out of the room.

She practically barreled Oliver over as she ran. We both laughed and followed her into to the living room.

"It's different, but I'm a quick learner." I heard Killian say to the screen.

"Can we go out sailing again when you and mom get back? I've been reading up on different things and I think I get the hang of it now."

A small smile appeared on Killian's face. "Aye, lad."

"Hey, kid," I said as I placed my glass on the table and walked around the couch. Killian immediately wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Hey, mom. Are you having fun with your friends?"

I snorted. "Yes, they want to meet you." I looked back and motioned for Oliver and Felicity to come forward. "Henry, this is Oliver and Felicity Queen, guys this is my son, Henry."

I watched as Henry gave a little wave on the screen. Felicity stepped forward. "It's so nice to meet you, Henry. You are a very handsome young man."

Henry's cheeks went pink and we all chuckled.

"Thanks for letting us borrow your mom and Killian for a little while," Oliver said with a smile as wrapped his arm around Felicity's waist.

"No problem. They both deserve a little vacation anyway," Henry answered back. “And hey! You have the same name as the Green Arrow!”

Oliver and Felicity laughed.

“So I’ve been told, but I’m not cool enough to be a super hero.” Oliver said with a shrug. “Well, you sure do look like one!” Henry answered with a laugh.

I smiled and laid my on Killian's shoulder as he rubbed my back. Henry was such a good kid.

"But mom, I just wanted to call because I'm about to go to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow and do some filing at the station as part of my punishment," he grumbled.

Killian and I chuckled. "Good. Make sure you start in the back room. There is plenty of things to be filed back there."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll call you tomorrow. I miss you guys." "Aw," Felicity gasped.

"We miss you, too, lad. Get some sleep, I'll keep watch over your mother." "Thanks, Killian. Goodnight, guys."

We said goodnight and the video call ended. I sniffled and looked up at Killian. "He's alright, love," he whispered before he kissed my forehead. "Don't you fret."

"Come on, good looking," Oliver started. "I promised Killian I'd show him some pictures from your twenty first birthday."

My eyes went wide and I quickly turned to see Oliver rushing over toward the dining room table. "No!" I cried out and moved to go after him. "Ollie, don't you dare!"

Oliver grabbed Felicity's tablet and raced around to the other side of the table. We stood on opposite sides of the table, Oliver with a smirk and me with a glare.

"Ollie..." I growled.

"Ohhhh, what about the one of you on top of the bar!" Oliver said as he swiped the tablet.

I ran around the table only to have Oliver run the opposite way, we stopped when we switched positions.

"Swan..." I heard Killian start but he stopped when Felicity put a hand on his arm. "Switzerland. It's best to just let them go for a minute."

Oliver swiped his finger. "Ahh here's this beauty of you doing two shots at once."

I started to chase Oliver around the dining room table as he laughed and ran. We circled the table a couple times before I finally switched course and crashed into him.

Oliver laughed as held the tablet above his head as I struggled to pull his arm down. "I'm going to kick your ass, Queen!" I growled and jumped up to grab the tablet.

"It's tradition, Em! Your boyfriend needs to see all the embarrassing photos of you!" Oliver laughed. He turned and tried to run down the hallway but I jumped on his back.

"Give me the tablet!"

"Never!" He laughed while he held the tablet away.

We wrestled for a minute before we both froze when a loud whistle rang out, Oliver bent at the waist with the tablet held in front of him and me still on his back. We looked over to see Felicity with her hands on her hips and Killian with an amused look on his face.

"That's enough, children. You're bound to break something and if it's my tablet I'll beat both your asses."

Oliver started to stand and I slid off his back. Felicity walked up to us and put her hand out. Oliver grumbled and slowly handed her the tablet. She pressed her lips together and turned.

Oliver gave me a little shove and I turned and punched him in the arm. "Besides, the Halloween pictures are much better."

I looked at Felicity in horror as Oliver did a little fist pump. "My wife rules!" He cried out.

I groaned and grabbed the bottle of wine from the table.

We all sat back down at the table and I glared at my "friends" while they and Killian laughed as they showed him the photos.

"And this was the year she dressed up as a sexy pirate," Felicity explained as she swiped her finger and handed Killian the tablet.

I froze. I had completely forgotten how one year I had gone as a 'Sexy Captain Hook'.

_Shit._

Killian turned to me with a raised eyebrow while he took the tablet. "Sexy pirate, love?"

I took a sip of my wine.

"Yeah, we all went as Disney characters. Oliver went as the mad hatter, I went as Rapunzel, and Emma went as Captain Hook." Felicity explained.

Killian's head snapped over to stare at me in shock. I bit my lip and shrugged. "It was Halloween," I whispered.

"I wanted her to go as Sleeping Beauty, but she refused, said there was no way she was dressing up as a princess. She even went as far as buying this terrible men's costume, but I returned it and bought her this one instead." Felicity explained.

He smirked and turned back to the tablet, but when his eyes connected on the photo, his jaw dropped and the left hand on the thigh tightened. I leaned into his side and sent a knowing glare toward Felicity.

She gave me an innocent shrug and I just rolled my eyes.

She had purposely picked that photo to show him because of how I looked. The costume was a red mini dress with a red jacket that went down to mid-thigh and tied in the middle. The cuffs and hem were black and gold and the hat on my head matched. In my right hand, I held a fake cutlass against my hip while my fake hook was on my left hand and held up to my face as if I was pondering something.

"You make one hell of a captain, Swan," he said, his voice low and husky. I had to squeeze my thighs together.

_Damn her._

***

Felicity and I both threw our hands in the air as Killian and Oliver yelled out in victory before they highfived each other.

We had started to play quarters and I tried to get out of it because I knew how well Killian was at the game, but they all insisted. What was worst was Oliver had suggested men against women.

"Okay, I'm done!" I called out over their cheers and Felicity agreed with me.

"Oh, come on, love," Killian laughed as he picked me up off the chair and put me in his lap. "You guys are ridiculous," I giggled as he nuzzled my neck.

"We're awesome, Em!" Oliver cheered as he put his arm around Felicity. "You're drunk, captain," I laughed.

"I would say pleasantly cheery, princess," Killian agreed as he bounced his knee up and down. "Here, here!" Oliver cheered as he lifted his glass and toasted with Killian.

Felicity and I both giggled. In total, we had all drank three bottles of wine and we were half way through our fourth, and Killian had been sipping on his flask in between drinks.

"Babe, it's after midnight. We should really get going, my mother is coming in the morning to pick up Thea."

"But sweetie, Killian was going to teach us how to play dice!" Oliver whined and Felicity laughed. I looked back at him in shock. "You are not going to teach him how to cheat at dice!"

"Nobody said anything about cheating, love. I'm just going to give him a few pointers." I pressed my lips together and gave him a skeptical look.

"You can play more with your new friend tomorrow," Felicity told her husband as she put her coat on.

Oliver huffed and stood up. Killian and I did the same. As we walked them to the door, Felicity and I had to hold back our laughter as the men talked about the things they were going to teach each other.

"You play darts?" "Aye!"

"You and Em should come over for dinner this week, we'll play some darts. Felicity doesn't know to play and she gets all frustrated."

"Emma only throws, she knows nothing about the point system."

I rolled my eyes and turned toward Felicity. "Did you guys call a cab? I don't think you should drive." "I texted our driver. He lives around the corner and should be here in a minute."

My brow went up. "Driver? Sounds fancy."

Felicity snorted. "We only use him for emergencies and I would say drinking nearly four bottles of wine is an emergency."

I pulled Felicity into my arms and we stood there just holding each other.

"We'll come by Oliver's office tomorrow and start," I said to her as I pulled away.

She nodded and we both turned to look at the men who were embraced in a hug. They patted each other on the back and pulled apart.

"Might want to make it the afternoon," Felicity said with a chuckle and I just nodded. Oliver turned to me. "Come here, gorgeous!"

He pulled me into his arms and I chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ollie."

"He's one of the good ones, Em," Oliver whispered into my ear. "Don't let him go." I pulled back and smiled at him, "I won't."

Oliver gave me a kiss on the cheek while Felicity hugged Killian.

Killian wrapped his arm around my waist as we waved goodbye to them before they left the apartment. I locked the door behind them and turned around to lean against it as I stared at my buzzed pirate.

"You and Ollie seemed to hit it off." Killian gave me a smirk. "Jealous, love?"

I snorted. "No, but I'm surprised you weren't."

"Why would I be jealous? Because you ran and jumped into his arms the second he walked through the door? Or because you commented on his bulging physic?"

I smacked him playfully in the stomach which caused him to fake grunt in pain with a chuckle. "Before we came here every time he was brought up you got all tense."

"Aye," he took a step toward me. "That was before I met him." "So you see how he and I are just friends?"

He put his arms on either side of me and boxed me in.

"It's more like, I saw how he looked at his wife," he whispered. I bit my lip. "Yeah, how's that?"

His head leaned in close to mine and I had to keep myself from moaning when I felt his breath on my lips.

"It's the same way I look at you."

Tears filled my eyes the second before he slammed his lips onto my own. We fought for dominance and my hands went up to his face to cup his jaw.

I wanted him, my skin was on fire and I wanted nothing more than to have him take me. But he pulled away and I couldn't help but whimper.

He leaned his forehead against my own as we both tried to catch our breath.

"Bloody hell, I'm going to regret this, but we should go to sleep." He forced out as he squeezed his eyes shut.

After a couple seconds of silence, he opened his eyes to see me looking at him like he was crazy and chuckled.

"We have a long day tomorrow, love."

He pushed himself away from me and my jaw clenched.

_This is getting ridiculous._

Somewhere in my foggy, drunken, mind, I remembered a conversation but I was too turned on and too angry to care as Killian rubbed the back of his neck.

"Is there something wrong here?"

Killian looked at me confused. "What do you mean?"

I ran my hands through my hair and shrugged. "You tell me, Killian."

He looked me in the eye then blew out a breath and moved his eyes to look at anything but me. "Swan, I don't know wha..."

"Lie!" I hissed.

Killian stopped and just looked at me. We stared at each other for a couple of seconds before a voice filtered through my brain.

_But he seems like a gentleman to me and I have a feeling he won't go through with it just because of the drinking and you'll get hurt and mad._

I bit my lip and leaned my head back against the door.

Felicity was right. My beautiful, sexy, pirate was trying to be a gentleman. He had plenty of drunken romps in the hundred years that he had been alive and he wanted our first time to be special.

I was being selfish because I was turned on and I couldn't think straight. So I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"I'm sorry, it's fine, you're right. We should get some sleep." Killian looked at me confused. I gave him a tight lipped smile. "Swan..."

"Killian."

He scratched his ear. "This feels like it might be a trick."

I chuckled and wrapped my arms around his waist. "It's not. Let's go to sleep while my brain is thinking clearly."

I could feel his eyes on me as we moved around the apartment to make sure all the lights were off before we headed back to the bedroom. I opened up my top draw and bit my lip. I could have gone the safe route and put on the pajamas he was used to seeing me wear, or I could have gone with the

pajamas that were next to them in the draw, the black cotton shorts and the white tank top. Somewhere in my drunken mind, I heard a voice tell me that teasing Killian wasn’t fair.

_He’s just trying to be gentlemen._

But then I remembered what Felicity had said and I wanted to see it firsthand. I grabbed the shorts and tank top and made my way to the bathroom.

I turned the water on and Killian followed me in. We stood there brushing our teeth and I could tell he was confused since I had yet to change, but I wanted the full affect. When we were done, he gave me a kiss on the crown of my head and walked out of the bathroom.

I quickly got changed and checked the mirror. I wrapped my hair up into a bun on top of my head with a few loose curls. My stomach was in knots and I could feel my hands had started to shake.

_Pretty sure if I was home the lights would be flickering._

I took a deep breath and walked into the bedroom to see Killian sitting on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

“Hey, what’s the matter? Are you okay?” I asked with concern.

He lifted his head, a fake smile prepared before he looked me up and down. His faced then changed into a look of pain.

“Bloody hell, Emma. Are you trying to drive me completely insane?” He groaned out. I opened and closed my mouth a couple times. “Excuse me?”

He shot up and started to pace. “I’m trying here, I really am. I’m trying to be a gentleman, but then you come in here wearing…” He gestured with his hand up and down my body. “And we’ve been drinking and this is _not _how I wanted to… There’s only so much a man can take!”

I started to ring my hands together as I bit my lip to hide my smile. It seemed Felicity was right and my pirate had been struggling just as I had been.

“Killian,” I started and took a step forward.

He put his hands on my arms and my skin started to heat up. “You’re different, Emma.”

I looked up and him and whispered, “I know. So are you.”

He licked his lips as his hands trailed down to my waist, his eyes followed their movements.

“I want…” He trailed off as his thumb found its way under my tank top and started to rub my hip.

“Me too,” I answered back with a whisper as my hands made their way up his chest to trace his tattoo.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._

Killian huffed out a breath and laid his forehead against my own. We stood there in silence for a few moments until I leaned forward and kissed his tattoo.

“Let’s go to sleep.”

Killian nodded before he gave me a kiss on the forehead and moved toward the bed. We got under the covers and I reached over to my bedside table and turned the light off.

I laid down on my left side only to feel Killian come up behind me a second later. His left arm slid under my pillow while his right arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush against his back. I reached down and intertwined our fingers before I closed my eyes with the feel of his breath on my neck.

I chuckled and shook my head when I heard him mumble a moment later, "Bloody knew I was going to regret it."


	8. Chapter 8

#  Chapter Eight

I grabbed the bag of clothes from the back of my car and kicked the door shut. My head was still pounding from the slight hangover I had since the Advil had worn off and all I wanted was to take a nap. I looked at my watched as I rode the elevator.

11:13.

I cracked my neck and rubbed my temple.

_No more wine._

When I opened the door to my apartment, I saw Killian standing in the kitchen on his cell phone. "Aye, she just walked in... I'll tell her."

I walked up to the island and placed the bags down before I took my sunglasses off. "Okay... Cheers, mate."

Killian hung up his cell phone and gave me a smile. "Nice trip, love?"

I gave him a kiss. "I bought you some new clothes, Captain. We're going to turn you into a 21st century man before you know it."

"And here I thought you liked my choice of clothing."

I smiled. "Mm, I do. But we don't know how long we'll be here, so I got you some choices." "Thank you," he whispered before he gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Killian opened the bag and looked through the clothes before he turned to me with an impressed look. I opened a water bottle and shrugged. "I'd like to think I know you by now."

"That you do, lass." He closed the bag and leaned against the island. "That was Oliver, he just woke up." "He called you? Did I miss his call?"

"Jealous?" He asked with a smirk and I rolled my eyes. "He says we can meet him at his office at one o'clock. I'll take a shower and we can go."

I drank from the bottle and nodded. Killian picked up his bag and headed back toward the bathroom. I went into the living room and laid down on the couch. I planned to close my eyes for a minute until my headache went away.

"Time to wake up, beautiful," I heard a voice whisper before I felt lips on my forehead. "Mm" I groaned out as I opened my eyes.

I looked up to see Killian kneeling next to me. "Ah, there she is," he whispered with a smile.

"Sorry, I just wanted to get rid of my headache... What time is it?" "Half past noon."

My eyes went wide. "Holy shit. I didn't mean to..."

He smiled and rubbed my forehead. "S'okay, love. I figured I'd let you sleep."

I sat up and stretched, it was then I realized I wasn't on the couch anymore, I was in my bedroom. I gave him a shy look.

"Thank you."

He kissed my hair and walked out.

I grabbed my wallet and keys and walked out of the bedroom just in time to see Killian put his leather jacket on. He chose the blue jeans and the black button down shirt. I bit my lip when he picked up the sunglasses and put them on.

"I know," he said with a cocky smirk and I just shook my head.

"Oliver's office is about four blocks from here so we can just walk. It'll be easier that way."

Killian took my hand as we walked the streets of New York. I could tell he was a little nervous, the streets were packed with people and he wasn't use to that. We were just about to approach Oliver's building when a woman with brown hair and tight clothes bumped into Killian.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said before she looked up. "S'alright, lass."

The woman stopped when she got a good look at him. I raised my eyebrow as she licked her lips and eyed him up and down.

"Mmm, maybe I'm not all that sorry," she said in a sultry tone. "Really?" I snapped out.

Her gaze snapped toward me as if she had just noticed I was there. I raised our joined hands and threw her a dirty look.

"Keep walking!" I hissed.

She pressed her lips together and turned to walk away.

Killian looked over at me, his eyebrow up above his sunglasses. "You okay, love?" I smirked at him. "Fine."

He chuckled and shook his head before we continued our walk. "Ollie?" I called out as we entered the empty office.

"Hey guys," Oliver emerged from an open door with an open file. "I ordered pizza. I don't know about you, but greasy food is my only option today," he said with a chuckle and I agreed. "Ready to get to work?"

***

Later that day, after hours of dead end research, we called it quits and I decided to take Killian out to an open lot and teach him how to drive.

"Is this necessary, love? How often do we drive around back home?" Killian groaned as we both got out of the car.

"What if something happens and you need to drive? You can't run everywhere," I explained as I held up my keys.

Killian scratched his ear and pressed his lips together. I filed my head. "What's the matter, Killian?"

He forced out a fake laugh.

"Nothing, love." I raised my eyebrows up at him at his obvious lie. He rolled eyes his, groaned and snatched the keys out of my hand.

I raced over to the passenger door and quickly jumped in. "Okay, now you have to push the clutch in before you..."

I stopped talking as Killian started the car with ease. My jaw dropped as he put it into gear and began driving around the lot like a pro.

"How..."

"Your father has been teaching me back at home. It was _supposed _to be a surprise."

My mouth fell open as Killian turned out of the lot into traffic. I quickly grabbed my seat belt and yanked it on which caused him to snort.

"Swan, do you honestly think I would do this if I didn't know what I was doing?"

I watched in silence as he skillfully switched between gears and drove through out traffic.

"Are you going to say anything or are you going to continue to stare?" He asked as we pulled up to a red light.

"When did you guys have time to do this?"

_And why am I extremely turned on right now?_

Killian turned the car down the street toward the apartment.

"Well, with you giving the prince time off to help your mother, he had a lot of free time on his hands." "He was supposed to be helping her with Neal!"

Killian snorted as he pulled into the parking garage. "You saw your mother a couple nights ago. She barely lasted two days of him being home before she begged me to take him. So, I swallowed my pride and asked him to teach me. I'm a quick learner, took about three days before I had it down."

We parked in the usual spot and the car was turned off. I looked around in shock.

"The other night was the first day he had spent the whole day home and she was already about to kill him."

We sat in the car as I continued to stare out the window. My head turned back to Killian to see that he had a smirk on his face.

"You know how to drive?"

His face suddenly turned unsure and he slowly nodded. I sat back in my seat and did a quick look around the parking garage.

"I wanted to teach you how to drive," I pouted.

Killian chuckled and reached over to pull me toward him. "Is that what you're upset about?"

I shrugged and looked down at my lap. "You taught me how to sail. I thought I could teach you something..."

He kissed my temple. "You teach me new things everyday, Emma."

"Like what? Henry taught you how to use your phone, my dad taught you how to drive, my mother taught you how to use a coffee maker..."

"And you've taught me how to be a better man," he whispered. I looked over at him and my face softened.

"Every single day you teach me what it means to be a better person, a person who is worthy of you. To be the man I always wanted to be."

Our fingers intertwined. "I didn't have to teach you that. You've always been a good man, Hook. You just got lost for a little while."

He let out a breath and squeezed me tighter against him. He mumbled something into my hair that I couldn't hear, but I was pretty sure I knew what he said, and I responded the only way I knew how to at the time.

_I love you, too._

Later that night, I walked into the bedroom after my shower and what I saw made me stop in my tracks. In front of the big bay window, there was a fort made out of blankets and sheets carefully held up by a floor lamp and two chairs, and descended down onto the bed.

I had to say I was impressed.

I tossed my towel into the hamper and cleared my throat. Killian's head popped out from the sheets and I had to bite my lip at how adorable he looked. His face had a big grin and his eyes shown bright like a child's.

"Ah! Princess, you have arrived!" He called out. I giggled. "What are you doing?"

Killian wiggled his eyebrows up and down before his hand appeared from behind the sheets. "Will you join me?"

I looked at him skeptically before I took his hand and ducked into the sheets. I had to get down onto my knees and crawl into the tent, and when I did, I let out a gasp.

The floor was covered in another sheet, more pillows than I knew where in the apartment and the only light was the moonlight that had shown through from the outside.

"What's this?"

Killian leaned back against what I assumed was the bed before he pulled me between his legs. I giggled as he wrapped his arms around my waist and put my back flush with his bare chest.

"Do you have any idea how lovely that sound is?" He asked in a whisper as he put his nose in my air. "What sound?"

His right hand found my own and our fingers intertwined before he placed them on my stomach. "Your laugh. You don't do it often, and when you do it's like the Angels themselves are singing."

I blushed and leaned my head back against his chest. "Okay, smooth guy, what's going on?"

Killian motioned with his head toward the window. "I don't know if you ever noticed, Swan, but that is one hell of view of the night sky you have there."

I looked out the big bay window. He was right, it had been one of the main reasons I had leased the apartment. The window didn't show the New York night, but the park and trees with a faint vision of the ocean.

Killian then began to explain to me the constellations in the sky. Whenever he pointed to a different one, he brought our intwined hand up to trace it and it was almost like they grew brighter. His voice was beautiful and it put me in a complete state of calm.

He lifted our hands and gestured to a star. "You see that one?" I nodded. "The North Star?"

He shook his head and lifted his finger to point and whispered, "No, love. The first star on the right..." I gasped and sat up a little.

"And straight on til morning," I finished.

"Aye. That's the star that leads to Neverland."

I settled back in his chest, my eyes were still on the star. "Even in this world?" "In every world, love. Neverland is always a possibility to those who believe."

I shivered when the memory of Neverland hit me and held his hand tighter. We sat there for a couple seconds before Killian pulled me closer. He moved his head down so that his lips grazed my ear and started to softly sing as he rocked us back and forth.

"I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue, an' it's hey to the starboard, heave ho!" I bit my lip and chuckled as he continued.

"Brave sailor, beware, 'cause a big 'uns a-brewin', mysteries fathoms below! Heave ho!"

He rocked us more and I couldn't help my giggle as he finished the song, I could feel the smile on his lips as he sang.

"I'll sing you a song of the King of the sea, an' it's hey to the starboard, heave ho! The ruler of all of the ocean is he, in mysteries fathoms below."

I clapped. "Well done, Captain!"

Killian kissed the back of my head and pulled me tighter against him.

He told me stories of how he used the stars to navigate on the oceans and how for a long time, the stars were the only things that knew all his secrets. He told me how his crew would go onto land whenever they docked in the year we were apart, but he always stayed on the Jolly. He would stay and stare up at them because it was one of the few times he could let himself feel the emptiness that was in his heart since I was no longer around. He said he would stay out on the deck until morning some nights, but others, he swore the stars were taunting him because they would spell my name. But then when he got that note and he sailed the Jolly away from the new curse, they became a beacon of hope. The stars lead him closer to me and he couldn't have loved them more. And finally he told me about the two nights he stayed in New York when he had come back to get me. How he had lain on a bench in the park that was right outside the window and stared up at them. He told me how it wasn't so he could feel the emptiness, it was because for the first time in a year, he had felt whole again, and it was all because I was back in his life.

After I listened to his stories, I knew without a doubt that I was completely and one hundred percent in love with him, even if I hadn't been able to tell him yet.

I wanted to tell him, I even opened my mouth a couple times to do it as we sat there in silence and stared at the stars, but my throat would constrict and nothing would come out.

_I have time... We have all the time in the world._

A tear ran down my face and I snuggled more into him. Killian kissed my head and reached up with his left hand to wipe away the lone tear with his thumb.

"It's not a sad story. It's a happy one. The stars helped me find you."

I looked down at our hands and made a decision. Maybe if I couldn't say the exact words, I could say it in other words.

So I shook my head and whispered, "You're wrong. The stars didn't help you find me."

I felt Killian move so he could get a better look at my face. My heart pounded in my chest as I turned to look him in the eye. His brow was together in confusion and I could feel his breath on my lips.

"You don't need the stars or anything else to help you... Because you'll find me. Wherever I am, you'll always find me," I whispered my fathers words to him.

Killian's lips parted as his eyes searched mine. I knew he knew what those words meant, we had all heard them more times than we could count.

He let out a stuttering breath and leaned his forehead against my own. "Aye," he answered. "Always."

I lifted my head and pressed my lips to his softly. He responded without a pause. He kissed my top lip, then my bottom. I opened my mouth and touched my tongue to his lips. His thumb caressed my jaw as he opened his mouth and gave me the entrance I wanted. Our kiss started to slowly become more passionate and I felt Killian squeeze my hand. As our kiss grew, I turned toward him slightly to get a better angle.

My heart continued to pound and I had to keep from moaning as I felt his do the same on my back.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._

His tongue massaged my own and he moved his fingers to my neck and changed from a soft caresses to a tight grip.

My skin started to heat up and my stomach started to flip. I pulled my fingers from his and reached up with both of my hands to cup his jaw. With our lips still attached, I sat up and and turned to face him fully. I put my knees on the floor on either side of his waist and pulled him closer to me. Killian's hands went to my waist before he rubbed them up my sides then around to my back. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me so our chests were flush.

My core throbbed and I ached for friction. Before my brain could register what my body was doing, I sat down fully in his lap and rubbed myself against his already hard member.

We both moaned loudly and it was like a damn broke. My arms wrapped around his shoulders and I continued to grind myself against him as his hands rubbed down my back to grip my ass.

Killian groaned as I whimpered into his mouth. Our pants and moans filled the room as Killian's hands ran down to massage my bare thighs before they went back up to my ass.

We pulled away for a second to suck in a breath before I slammed my lips back onto his. Killian's hands left a fire trail on my skin every where he touched and i wanted more. My panties were already almost completely soaked through and from what I could feel from Killian, he was just as ready.

My fingers ran through the hair on the back of his head as his hands moved to grip my waist under my tank top. He rubbed my stomached before he moved to touch my bare back.

I couldn't take it anymore.

I pulled away from our kiss and crossed my arms in front of me to take my tank top off. I flipped my hair out of my face to find Killian staring at my black, laced covered chest.

"Bloody hell," he groaned as his hands moved up my back to grip my shoulders before he sat up and attacked my neck.

"Mmmnnaaah!" I gasped out as he sucked and nipped.

I gripped his hair tighter and threw my head back in pleasure as his lips moved from my neck down to my collar bone. His left hand spread out on my back as his right hand moved back down to my ass.

Killian pushed me to bend back as his lips moved down to the tops of my breasts. His tongue poked out to lick the edge of my bra and that was the end of it all.

The moment I felt his tongue, I unwrapped my right arm from around his shoulders to grip his bicep, but my hand got caught up in the blanket above us. Before I realized what it was, I yanked my hand and everything came tumbling down.

There was a loud thud as the chair fell to the floor right before the floor lamp fell on top of it followed by the sound of breaking glass.

I let out a yelp in surprise a second before I found myself with my head down by Killian's side covered by my arms, safely tucked under his chest as he used his body to shield my own.

When the last thing fell, Killian finally decided to move. I was stuck in my crouched position as he dug us out of the blankets. After what seemed like forever, I felt the cool air on my back and was able to sit up. The blanket seemed to wrap tighter and I had to wrestle to get it off, which caused me to tumble off of Killian's lap onto my side.

I blew a piece of wayward hair out of my face and looked around. Both chairs were fallen, one over Killian's shins the other was off to the side. The floor lamp was on the floor behind me with a broken light bulb.

Our eyes connected and neither one of us could hold back. We both busted out laughing.


	9. Chapter 9

#  Chapter Nine

I had hoped after the tent disaster, we would have tried again, but once we had cleaned up the room, the mood had been killed and we just decided to go to bed. Every morning I woke up with hopes of a repeat performance but we never seemed to get to it.

Everyday we went to Oliver's office early to do research but found nothing but dead ends, and by the time we got back to the apartment, we were completely exhausted.

Our third night in New York, I had been so tired, I just walked into the bedroom, kicked off my boots and flopped down on the bed. A couple minutes later, Killian crashed next to me with just enough energy to fling his arm across my back. We even missed Henry's call, something we both had to apologize for greatly.

The night after that, I took Killian to Central Park and we went to the bench where I had handcuffed him and decided to make a new memory, which was us making out and giggling like children. After, we walked around for a bit and even took pictures. I laughed for a good five minutes at the look of disgust on his face when I used the word 'selfie'. Only to have it followed by a blush as he took the picture we had taken and made it his background photo on his phone. We stayed until it was dark and when we walked back to the apartment, I gave Killian the keys and told him go up while I picked us up some sandwiches from the corner shop for dinner.

By the time I made it back up there, Killian was passed out on the couch with his arm flung over his head. I put our food in the fridge before I went back to the living room. I untied his boots, took them off of him, and he didn't budge at all. But when I turned to move away, his arm shot out and yanked me down onto the couch. He turned to lay on his side and trapped me between the couch and his chest.

When I tried to protest, he tucked his arm around my back, pulled me to his chest and whispered out a very effective, "Shhh."

We didn't wake up until a couple hours later when Henry called for a video chat. When we were done we ate our dinner and went straight to bed.

Then on the fifth day of research, we got lucky.

“Guys!” I called out as I lifted up a piece of paper. Both Killian and Oliver looked up. “I think I found something.”

They moved toward me and I showed them the paper.

“This address had a shipment of computer chips sent to it three months ago under Cooper’s name. The house is owned by a Richard and Martha Hatcher and I did some cross referencing, the name Hatcher doesn’t match with any of Cooper’s known alias’s, but the Hatcher’s do have a twenty two year old daughter who works at some big factory that produces laptops and all other kinds of tech equipment.”

Oliver’s eyes searched the paper. “Did the delivery come from her factory?”

I smirked and nodded. “She was fired right after this shipment went out. They didn’t tell me why, but how much do you want to make a bet…”

“That the coward was using the little girl to get the supplies he needed.” Killian finished for me.

“Bingo. Now, all we have to do is call up the house and see if they are willing to tell us anything they know about where Cooper might be.”

“She’s a young girl. She might not give him up if she thinks he’s in love with her.”

I crossed my arms and smiled. “But dear old mom and dad would if they thought he was the reason she was fired.”

Oliver and Killian both smiled. “How are you going to get them to talk to you, love?” “Oh, they aren’t going to talk to me. They are going to talk to Patty Mae.”

Killian looked at me confused while Oliver smirked before he turned around and grabbed a phone off of the desk behind him and put it next to me.

I picked up the phone and dialed the home number. As the phone rang, I looked up at Killian who still had a confused look on his face and just winked at him.

Oliver leaned on the desk next to me and motioned to Killian. “Wait until you see this.” An elderly woman answered the phone, “Hatcher residence.”

“Hi there!” I said in my sweetest, thickest, southern accent. From the corner of my eye I saw Oliver snicker and Killian’s eyebrow go up. I picked up the piece of paper that told me Cooper’s last known address. “This is Patty Mae with Omaha Insurance. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with today?”

“Martha Hatcher.”

“Well, hello, Mrs. Hatcher, like I said before my name is Patty Mae with Omaha Insurance and this call will be recorded for quality purposes. Is Cooper Seldon available to speak with?”

“I’m sorry, Cooper no longer lives here.”

“Aw, well, shucks. Do you happen to know where I can reach him at?” “Ugh, well, no sorry.”

“That’s okay, I’m sorry to disturb you ma’am. You’re just the fourth place I called and if I don’t get a hold of this man, my boss is going to be on my hide faster than a fruit fly on a watermelon on a hot summer day,” I explained with a chuckle.

“Oh,” the woman sounded surprised. “Is there a problem?”

“Well you see, Cooper had insurance with us a couple years ago and his car was stolen. He put in a claim to have the car paid off but he never filed a police report so we couldn’t do anything, for fraud purposes, you understand.”

“Yes, of course.”

“And it just so happened we got a call about ten days ago from the police saying that his car was located in a junk yard not five miles from where he said it was stolen. It had been torn to shreds and gutted. Now we are trying to get another statement from him so we can get this claim settled. Bosses are really upset they let this one slide through. Trying to avoid a law suit, you know.”

“That sounds terrible.”

I nodded and twirled my finger around the phone cord. “That’s why I was hoping I could reach him. It’s best we contact him before we move further with the claim.”

“Hold on one second. Let me get my daughter, she might be able to help you. I think she might still be in contact with him.”

“Well aren’t you just a peach, thank you so much darling.”

The phone was put down and I held two thumbs up to the guys. Killian leaned against the table next to Oliver with an amused look on his face. I rolled my eyes.

“Miss. Patty Mae?” “Yes, sugar, I’m here.”

“My daughter says he’s out of state at the moment.”

I cursed under my breath if Cooper told her she was out of state then she really had no idea where he was.

“Does she have any way to contact him? Truth be told, Cooper doesn’t need to do much. We just need a statement from him on what happened with the stolen vehicle, signed, dated and with a copy of his driver’s license and we can get this all squared away right quick.”

The mother turned away from the phone and I could hear her arguing with her daughter.

_“Well do you? Elizabeth, I am done playing these games with this boy. This is a matter of fraud, you’ve already lost your job! You will not be thrown into legal matters as well. Well get me his number!” _the mother growled and I jumped up.

I motioned for a pen and a piece of paper which Oliver quickly handed over. “I’m sorry about that, Miss,” the woman said back into the phone.

“Oh, don’t you go apologizing to me you sweet thing, you’re the one helping here!”

“She says that when he calls her, he always calls from his friend Braydon Righter’s cell phone. That number is (717)856-2354.”

I wrote the name and number down and did a little silent cheer.

“Ma’am, you are a life safer. Honestly, between me and you, I was the one who took Mr. Seldon’s call those years ago, but what’s a girl to do when he doesn’t follow the correct procedures? But of course, now my boss doesn’t want to hear any of that.”

“I understand, sweetheart. I’m so glad I could help.”

“And I’ll be sure to take this number out of his file. I don’t want any other people calling and tormenting you after all you’ve done for me. God knows I don’t like getting phone calls in the middle of the day when I’m at home,” I said with a giggle.

The woman laughed, “Me either.”

“Again, thank you so much for your help. You have a beautiful day, bye now.”

The woman said goodbye and I hung up the phone. Oliver jumped up and clapped his hands together.

“Whoa! Every time! That little southern bell works every single fucking time!” Oliver cheered out and gave me a high five.

Killian chuckled.

“The daughter says he’s out of state which we all know is bullshit. But, when she does speak to him, he calls from this number. She says it’s his friend Braydon Righter’s phone,” I explained as I handed Oliver the piece of paper.

“I’m going to call Felicity and see if she can find anything on this guy. Emma, you’re a godsend!” He cried out before he gave me a kiss on the forehead and jogged to his desk.

I looked back at Killian to see him still staring at me.

“What’s the matter? Didn’t like Patty Mae?” I asked him with a smirk in my southern accent again.

He chuckled and shook his head. “I’ve said it before, love. I always knew there was a little pirate in you.”

I smiled and leaned over to give him a kiss.

We spent the rest of the day chasing down leads until we got a current address on Braydon Righter. “That’s about an hour away from here. Killian and I can go check it out, see if anything pans out.”

Oliver checked his watch and cursed. “I have to pick Thea up from my mother-in-laws. Are you sure you two will be okay?”

I nodded and grabbed my jacket. “We got this, Ollie. Go get your daughter. We’ll call on our way back.”

An hour later, Killian and I sat in my car as we watched the house across the street and three houses up.

“These onion rings are bloody garbage compared to Granny’s,” Killian mumbled before he took a sip of his drink.

“I know, everything is weak in comparison now a days,” I said with a little smile. “You miss home?”

I looked over at him. “I do. I mean, it’s nice seeing Oliver and Felicity, and it’s kind of fun doing all of this again, especially with you here."

Killian gave me a smile and kissed my hand.

"But I do miss home.” I leaned my head back on the seat and looked back out the window. “I miss Henry, my parents, my brother… what do you think they are doing right now?”

Killian snorted. “Your mother is probably cooking dinner while your father is trying to fix things in the apartment. He told me the other night he thought the stairs to your room looked loose.”

I groaned. “Great. I probably won’t be able to get up to my room when we get back.” “That or you’ll just have to magically build some,” Killian said with a laugh.

I joined him in laughter and shook my head. “Man, I need to get my own place.” Killian was silent for a couple seconds before I heard a whispered, “Aye.”

We continued to stare out the window for another before he started again, “Emma…”

In that moment a black van pulled up outside of the house and I sat up when a man with brown shaggy hair stepped came out of the house. He walked down the steps and met the driver of the van at the front gate. The driver handed over the keys to the van as they spoke.

“Is that Braydon?”

Killian lifted the photo we had printed that Felicity was able to get and I checked it against the guy who emerged from the house.

“Aye, that’s him.”

I picked up my camera and started to snap pictures of him as he talked to the driver. A girl jogged by in small, tight running shorts and Braydon whistled at her as she ran past.

“Nice ass, sweet heart!” He called out which caused his friend to laugh. I shook my head in disgust. “What a slime bucket.”

Killian grunted in agreement. We watched as a woman came out of the house and bounced down the steps toward him. The girl threw her arms around his neck and started to kiss him.

I made a gagging noise and shook my head in disgust as he openly groped her in public. “Why do girls let guys do that to them?”

“Some enjoy it more than the men, Swan.” I looked over at him and he shrugged. “Makes them feel wanted. When in reality it’s the man marking his territory.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Know that from experience, Captain?”

He made a face and shook his head. “I never felt the need to mark my territory, love. If another man wanted the wench I had, he could’ve had her. There was always another one that was willing to warm my bed for a time.”

I clenched my jaw and looked back out the window. Jealousy was not a feeling I was fond of and it seemed the longer I spent with Killian, the more I felt it.

“Now if another man tried to mark his territory on my princess, then he’d meet the end of my cutlass.” I waited a second before I looked back at him with a small smile. “Although I’m sure my princess would end him before I even had a chance to.”

I bit my lip to hide my smile and rolled my eyes.

_I love you._

We watched as the three talked and I examined the black van he pulled up in. I looked around to see the street pretty much deserted and it darkened due to broken street lamps.

“I want to know what’s in that van.”

“You think it’ll give us an idea as to what Cooper is up to?”

I searched around some more. “It might. Or it might give us a lead to Cooper.”

The woman gave Braydon one final kiss before she followed the driver to another car and drove off. Braydon went back into the house and Killian started to move.

“What are you doing?” I asked him.

“You want to know what’s in that van, I’m going to check it out.” I started to argue but he cut me off. “Swan, I came to help and that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll be right back.”

He snatched the black beanie off of the dash board and pulled it down on his head before he got out of the car. I looked around to make sure no one was watching as he slowly made he was way over toward the van. It was actually very entertaining to see the way Killian moved as he snuck around. He really did know how to use the night to his advantage and I suddenly envisioned him back in his old pirate gear doing the same thing back in the Enchanted Forest.

I watched as Killian worked the lock on the back of the van before it opened. He jumped into the back and closed the door behind him.

I yanked the hat off of my head as I started to get worried. Killian wasn’t use to sneaking around in a world without magic and he could have been caught at any moment.

_This was stupid._

My eyes went wide when I saw Braydon walk out of the house. I quickly got out of the car and jogged across the street. As Braydon locked up his house, I unzipped my jacket and pulled my shirt down so that my cleavage showed more and the top of my bra peaked out.

_Good thing I decided to wear a skirt today._

I started to walk down the street and slowed down as I pulled out my phone and looked down at it. Just as Braydon reached the bottom of the steps and took a step toward the van, I bumped into him.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention.”

Braydon braced himself and put his hands on my arms. He looked me up and down and a smirk appeared on his face.

“It’s okay, gorgeous. No harm no fail.”

I forced myself to blush and twirled a piece of my hair around my finger as I gave him a flirty smile. “What’s your name, hunnie?”

“Jennie,” I said with a flirtatious tone.

I moved the hair down to my cleavage, and like a dog that wanted a treat, Braydon’s eyes followed.

_Sucker_.

“Well, Jennie, I’m Braydon. And the way I see it, looks like you have some making up to do.”

My eyes flickered behind him to see the back of the van open before Killian’s foot appeared on the ground.

I bit my lip and looked down. “And how would I do that?” The van door closed and Braydon took a step closer. “Why don’t you let me buy you a drink?”

Killian peaked his head out from around the van and his jaw clenched. I giggled and Braydon smiled.

“Come on, sweetie. What’s the matter got a boyfriend?”

Braydon looked back down at my cleavage and I motioned with my head for Killian to move. His nostrils flared before he ducked back behind the van.

“Do you always ask random girls on dates?”

Braydon took a piece of my hair and twirled it in his finger. I had to hold back my gag and thanked who ever was listening Killian hadn't seen him do it.

_He would be one angry pirate._

“Only gorgeous women that bump into me.”

I faked shyness and looked down at the ground.

“Let me at least get your number.” He pleaded as he took out his phone. “It’s the least you could do for bumping into me.”

I pressed my lips together as an idea formed. I took Braydon’s phone and added in the burner phone’s number Oliver had given me in his contacts under Jennie.

“Thanks, doll. I’ll give you a call.” He tapped my chin and I giggled.

Braydon walked toward the van and I started to slowly walk down the side walk. I heard the van start up and turned back when he beeped. His hand went out the window to wave. I gave a flirtatious wave and watched as he pulled away. When the van was out of sight, my shoulders sagged.

“Was that necessary?” Killian growled as he walked up next to me.

“If I didn’t do that you would still be in the back of that van,” I said with a motion of my hand.

Killian clenched his jaw, looked down at my cleavage and then glared back up at me. I rolled my eyes, pulled my shirt up and zipped my jacket.

He yanked the hat off his head. “Next time, let me go. It’s not fun seeing you flirt with another man, Swan.”

“Did you find anything?”

He huffed and pulled something out from the inside of his jacket. My eyes went wide when I saw it was a tablet.

“It was filled with all different devices. I don’t know the names, but I grabbed this.” He handed it to me. “Thought maybe Felicity could get something off of it.”

“Killian this is perfect,” I flipped the tablet over in my hand and he just nodded. I tilted my head and leaned up on my toes to give him a kiss on his cheek.

We started back toward my car and I rolled my eyes when he spoke. “You gave him your number?”

“Burner phone number,” I explained as we got into the car. “Figured if he tries to get in touch with me we’ll be able to trace him.”

“Oh, he’ll try,” he grumbled and I just raised my eyebrow. He sighed. “Swan, I have been on the other end of that very tempting cleavage and we both know how that turned out.”

My head snapped over toward him. “I thought you didn’t remember any of that!”

“Funny thing about time travel, love. When you know that something particular happened that night, you tend to concentrate real hard until you can remember anything.”

“And?” I asked him in curiosity.

He looked at me and motioned with his head to my chest. “The only thing I remember is a beautiful blonde approaching me with a bosom that looked down right edible.”

Killian said the last part with a smirk and I had to swallow as my body started to heat up at the memory of his tongue on my chest. I rolled my eyes and shook my head before I pulled out of the parking spot and mumbled, “Pirate.”


	10. Chapter 10

#  Chapter Ten

We pulled up to Oliver and Felicity’s apartment building and parked.

“Does nobody believe in houses in this world?” Killian asked as he got of the car.

I laughed. “Having a house in New York isn’t practical. It’s better to have an apartment... or in Felicity and Oliver’s case, a penthouse.”

He looked at me confused.

“It’s like an apartment, but bigger.”

Killian just shrugged and we walked into the building up to the main desk. “Hi, we’re here to see Mr. and Mrs. Queen.”

“Name please,” the security officer behind the desk asked. “Emma Swan and Killian Jones.”

He made a few clicks on his computer and nodded. “Fourth floor penthouse. Elevators are to your right.”

“We have to give our names to enter their flat?” Killian asked as we walked away.

I hit the button for the elevator. “Not usually. But I know Ollie, and with Cooper being back he’s being extra cautious on who is coming to his home.”

It was a quick ride to the fourth floor and the doors opened to a hallway that had only one door. I rang the doorbell and turned back to Killian.

“It was… interesting to see you move tonight.” Killian’s eyebrow went up and I rolled my eyes. “I’ve never seen you be sneaky from afar before. You really do know how to keep hidden.”

“Years of practice, love. A pirate must learn to blend in when he wants to take something he shouldn’t.”

My response was cut off by the front door being opened to reveal Felicity. “Hey!”

She opened the door to let us in. Felicity gave me a hug and Killian a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m glad you guys are okay. Oliver told me you went for a stake out. You know I never liked when you did those type of things,” she said with a frown.

“We’re fine, this isn’t our first bad guy look out.” Killian snorted and I smiled at him.

“Hey guys!”

We looked up to see Oliver walking into the room with a little girl in his arms. She had a silver tiara on top of her blonde curls and was dressed in what looked like a pink princess costume along with a star wand in her hand.

He reached out and gave Killian a handshake before he kissed me on the cheek.

Oliver put the little girl on the ground and knelt down next to her. “These are Mommy and Daddy’s friends we were telling you about. This is your Aunt Emma and your Uncle Killian.”

I gave Felicity a look and she rolled her eyes before she leaned in and whispered, “Try and tell me this isn’t the man you’re going to spend the rest of your life with.”

I froze. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Felicity smirked and turned back to her husband and daughter. I looked at Killian from the corner of my eye and he did a good job at pretending he didn’t hear her, but the grin on his face told me did.

The little girl leaned into her father as she looked up at us with wide eyes. I bent down and smiled at her.

“Hi, what’s your name?”

“I’m princess Thea,” she said shyly.

Killian stepped up and bowed at her before he went down on one knee. Felicity and I exchanged an amused look before we stared back down at him.

“It’s a pleasure to make your aquatints, Princess Thea. I am Killian Jones, Captain of the Jolly Roger.” The little girl giggled. “But that’s Captain Hook’s ship! He’s a pirate!”

“Aye that he is. But I commandeered his ship so that it could be used for good instead of bad,” he explained with a smirk.

“You must be a very brave Captain to take a pirate ship,” she said with awe.

Killian nodded and put his hand to his chest. “I try to be, Princess. But I can not take all the credit.” He motioned up toward me. “My Princess here is the reason.”

Her eyes went wide as she looked up at me. “You’re a princess, too?”

Killian looked up at me with a raised eyebrow and I pressed my lips together. I looked back at the little girl and did a curtsey.

“I am Princess Emma of the Enchanted Forest.”

Once the words were out of my mouth, I froze. They came out so naturally and easy and they felt so… right.

The little girl jumped up and down. “Mommy, Daddy! You didn’t tell me they were a Captain and a Princess!” she cried out in excitement.

Oliver and Felicity laughed.

“I’m sorry, sweet pea,” Oliver said with a shake of his head. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“May we enter your beautiful castle, princess?” Killian asked with a formal tone I hadn’t heard since we attended my fathers engagement ball.

“You may, Captain,” she said with a curtsey of her own before she turned to her mother. “I must tell the kingdom!”

Oliver, Felicity and Killian laughed as she ran off down a hallway.

“You just made a friend for life, I hope you know that,” Felicity said to Killian as he stood. “It’s always good to have a princess in your corner, lass.”

I forced out a chuckle as they all laughed. I heard someone say something before they all started to move, but I had no idea what they said.

My heart was pounding and the only thing I could hear clearly was the sound of the blood rushing to my head. I felt myself start to get upset and I jumped when I felt someone touch my arm.

“You okay, love?” Killian asked with a worried look.

Oliver and Felicity looked at me with concern. I faked a smile and nodded. I had the sudden urge to talk to my parents.

“Yes, I, ugh, just remembered I have a phone call to make.”

“Okay, we’ll be in the dining room just down the hall when you’re finished.”

I nodded with a tight smile before Oliver and Felicity disappeared down the hall. When they were gone I let out a deep breath and blinked away tears.

“Swan?”

I rubbed my hand down my face and let out a chuckle. “I just realized that was the first time I ever introduced myself like that.”

Killian gave me a sad smile and wiped away a lone tear just like he had back in the Enchanted Forest. “It’s true,” he whispered.

I nodded and pulled out my cell phone. I motioned toward it. “I’m going to call my parents, I need to talk to them.” “Okay, love. Do you want me to stay?”

I shook my head and he gave me a kiss on the forehead before he followed Oliver and Felicity.

My hands shook and I walked over to a chair and sat down as the phone started to ring on the other end.

“Hello?”

“Mom?”

“Emma! Sweetie, how are you?”

I sniffled and picked at my black tights. “I’m fine. How’s Neal?”

“He’s fine. We took him to see Whale today and he said he’s very healthy. Hunnie, what’s the matter?” she asked in a concerned tone.

I closed my eyes and wiped away another tear. “Is Dad there, too?”

“Yes, Charming!” I heard her call away from the phone. “Do you want me to put you on speaker?” “Yes please,” I whispered.

I waited a second before I heard my fathers voice. “Emma?” “Hey, Dad.”

“Oh, sweetheart, what’s wrong? Did something happen, you sound upset.” My mother asked. I sniffled and shook my head. “It’s really stupid… I just wanted to hear yours guys voice.” “It’s not stupid if it’s making you upset, Emma,” my father explained.

I bit my lip and stared at nothing. “We just got to Oliver and Felicity’s house. They have a daughter. Her name is Thea, she’s so cute. She’s three and apparently everything right now is princess themed.”

My parents chuckled before my mother spoke, “She sounds adorable.”

“She is. But, we just got here and Killian being Killian introduced himself as Captain Killian Jones, bowed, got down on one knee and everything.”

My mother laughed while my father grumbled, “Of course he did.”

I was silent and I picked at invisible piece of lint off my tights again. “Did she get upset? I don’t understand…” My mother trailed off.

“He called me a princess, like he does, and the little girl got excited, so I introduced myself as Princess Emma of the Enchanted Forest.”

My mother and father were silent and I started to curse myself.

It was stupid to call them. They probably didn’t understand…

“Oh, Emma. That’s the first time you’ve ever done that,” my mother said and I could hear the tears in her voice.

I nodded even though I knew they couldn’t see me.

“I don’t know why… It just made me… and then I felt bad.”

“Emma, listen to me,” my father started. “I know you didn’t grow up in the Enchanted Forest. The dreams your mother and I had for you, and the things we dreamed to teach you, unfortunately did not happen. But that doesn’t make you any less our daughter.”

I sniffled as he continued.

“Your name is Emma Swan, and that name is apart of you, it makes you who are, and your mother and I love that part of you. But you are also Princess Emma of the Enchanted Forest. Don’t you _ever _doubt or feel some sort of way about introducing yourself as such. It doesn’t matter if it’s to a village full of people or to a three year old little girl who is dressing up.”

I let out a teary chuckle and wiped my face.

“You are a princess, Emma,” my mother stated. “Embrace it, because like your father said, it’s part of who you are.”

“I think what had me so confused was how right it felt to say it,” I mumbled.

“And there is nothing wrong with that,” Mom insisted. “It should feel right, and it means you are accepting all sides of yourself and you have no idea how proud that makes me and your father.”

“Extremely proud, Emma,” my father agreed. I took a deep breath. “I miss you guys.”

“We miss you, too.” Dad said. “So much,” Mom followed.

I looked up when I saw Killian walk back into the room with a look of concern on his face. “I’m sorry I called with this…” my insecurities kicked in.

“Never apologize for calling, sweetie. We’re you’re parents and that is what we are here for,” my mother chocked out.

Killian sat down next to me and took his hand in my own.

“Maybe… maybe when you get home we could do something as a family? Just me, you and your father? We could get someone to watch Neal…”

I smiled and leaned my head on Killian’s shoulder. “I’d like that very much.” Neal started to cry in the background.

“What did you do with the shirt?” My mother asked.

“He doesn’t need the shirt, Snow!” my father grumbled.

“Charming, get over your feelings and give your son the shirt! It’s the only thing that calms him down when he wakes up.”

My brow went together in confusion. “What’s the matter?”

“Oh your father doesn’t like the fact that your brother has grown attached to Killian.” I lifted my head and looked at Killian. He looked at me confused and mouthed ‘what’? “What do you mean?”

She giggled before she spoke. “I went up to your room to clean your sheets for when you got back and Killian left one of his shirts. I was going to throw it in the wash for him but your brother started to cry. When I picked him up he immediately started to calm down. But when I tried to put him back down he started crying again. It took me a while to realize I had thrown Killian’s shirt over my shoulder and your brother had a death grip on it. Apparently it smelled like him and your brother noticed.”

I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my giggle and looked at Killian in pure giddiness. He looked even more confused.

“It is _not _because of his shirt!” I heard my father growl and I straight up laughed. My mother laughed along with me until I heard her say, “See! It made him calm!” “I think we just found our babysitter.” I said with amusement as I looked at Killian.

His face dropped and changed to horror. I giggled and leaned up to give him a soft kiss.

“I think you’re right,” my mother giggled and my father groaned louder in the background. We said goodbye and both my mother and I hung up still laughing.

“Everything okay, love?”

I nodded and wiped the tears that had changed from sorrow to laughter. “Yes, I feel better now that I talked to them. I’ll tell you about it later.” He agreed and kissed me on the forehead before we stood up.

“What was all that about babysitting?”

I bit my lip and tried not laugh anymore, but I failed. “So, ugh, you left a shirt in my room?” His brown went together in confusion and he shrugged. “Might have, can’t really say.”

“Yeah, that shirt is the only thing that calms my brother down when he wakes up in a crabby mood.” He looked at me even more confused. “When babies are that young, smells can be comforting, and your smell, Captain, is what calms my little brother down.”

“Bloody hell,” he whispered.

“I told you you had a fan. Guess who was just nominated to be Neal’s new babysitter when my parents want to go out?”

Killian groaned and I laughed as we walked back into the dining room.

“Everything okay?” Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow as we walked into the room.

“Apparently my br… ergh, nephew misses Killian. My sister-in-law just told me the only thing that has been able to calm him when he wakes up is a shirt Killian left at the loft.”

“That’s adorable!” Felicity chuckled and Killian forced a smile before he sat down. “Not a fan of babies?” Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s not that, mate. I just haven’t really been around them since I was one,” Killian explained with a shrug.

Oliver chuckled. “I was the same way, when we had Thea, I was terrified.”

Felicity nodded. “The first time I left him home alone with her he called me ten times and I just went to the store. I was gone for twenty minutes!”

Felicity and I laughed as Killian and Oliver just shook their heads.

I looked over to see the tablet Killian had taken hooked up to Felicity’s laptop. “Anything useful on that?” I asked with a nod toward it.

Felicity sat down and began to type away. “There are some firewalls set up, but I’ll get through them.” Oliver looked at her proudly before he walked out of the room.

“The van was filled with them and…” Killian pointed at her laptop. “Those. Almost like a shop.” Felicity stopped typing and looked at him over her glasses. “Were they set up or just in there?” Oliver walked back out with three beers and a glass of wine.

Killian leaned forward to take a beer. “Thanks, mate. No. They weren’t on. Just packed in there.”

She nodded and turned back toward her laptop. I was about to ask her what she thought when the sound of little feet running into the room interrupted me.

“Uncle Killy, you have to come quick!” Thea cried out and I had to cover my mouth to keep from spitting out my beer as I laughed.

Thea had apparently thought Killian’s name was too hard to pronounce and decided to shorten it. It was the cutest thing I had ever heard in my entire life.

Oliver sighed. “Thea, I told you that we had grown up things to do right now.”

“But Daddy! Pirates are at the gates and I need Uncle Killy because he’s a Captain!” She whined and I had to put my hand over my mouth again.

_Why are all these children falling in love with him?_

Oliver looked at his wife. “Are you going to help me with this?” “She’s your daughter.”

Oliver pressed his lips together. “Why is it that when she does anything smart, like read from the periodic table, she’s _your _daughter, but when she wants something she’s _my _daughter?”

Felicity shrugged and continued to type away as Killian chuckled and stood.

“S’fine. I could never deny a princess in need,” he sent a wink my way and I blushed.

_Seriously? You would think we just met._

“Lead the way, Princess! Captain Jones will help you with the pirates!”

He barely had time to pick up his beer when Thea grabbed his hand and started to pull him out of the room before she stopped.

“Daddy you have to come too! You’re the king and you have to help protect the kingdom!” Felicity and I both hid our laughter as Oliver sighed.

He looked at Killian with a raised eyebrow. “Are you ready for this?” Killian smirked. “Always, your majesty.”

Oliver picked up his beer bottle and held it up in the air before he called out, “We must save the kingdom!”

Thea giggled as her father jogged over and picked her up off the ground before the three of them left the room.

“He seems like he’s really good with kids,” Felicity commented with her eyes still on the screen. I stared at the empty doorway with a smile. “Yeah he is.”

“It’s a good quality to have.”

I looked back at her with a pointed look which caused her to look up at me with innocence. “What? I’m just saying, it’s a good thing.”

“Mmhm,” I responded.

She stopped typing and tilted the screen down. “Emma, I know we just met him a couple days ago. But you guys have been together for a year. You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about.”

I sighed and took a sip of my beer. “We haven’t really been together for a year.”

She raised her eyebrows at me but kept quiet. She tilted the screen back up, typed more, then pushed the laptop aside and put her elbows on the table.

“Spill.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “I can’t tell you everything… it’s a long complicated story and I just…”

“Emma,” she reached out and touched my arm. “It’s fine. You have your secrets. You always have, and that’s fine. Tell me what you can.”

I stared at her for a second before I got up and took the seat next to her. “Okay. So about a year ago, Henry and I were living here in New York at my apartment.”

Felicity nodded. I assumed she had probably already known that since Oliver obviously had to do some research to be able to find my apartment.

“Something happened with my family and I didn’t know it. Killian came to New York and found me, took me back to Maine. We hadn’t seen or spoken in a year.”

“Did you miss him?”

“When I saw him, I mean _actually _saw him, I realized I did. I missed him so much.”

I wasn't lying. When I had drank that potion all the memories had come rushing back to me like a tidal wave and when I looked up at his face and actually recognized who he was, I had to force myself from not jumping into his arms.

Felicity smiled. “Did he miss you?”

I nodded. “The look on his face when I opened that door, it was pure happiness. You only look that way when you truly missed someone. But you know me, I have my walls. I couldn’t let him in. I fought _so hard _against it. Even swore me and Henry were coming back to New York after everything with my family calmed down. But he was just always there. Whenever I needed him, he was there, taking care of Henry, taking care of my family, taking care of me… and of course that only made me fight harder against it.”

Felicity took a sip of her wine and nodded.

“Anyway, a couple nights after my nephew was born, Regina's her half sister came into town and caused a bunch of hell. Regina didn’t even know she had a half sister. I wanted out. I was done with the drama and wanted to just bring Henry back to New York. When I told my family, they of course freaked out, and so did Henry. He didn’t want to leave. I got upset and ran, like I always do. Killian followed me, like he always does. Something happened, I can’t go into detail, but it made me see that New York wasn’t my home. My home was with my family. So I went to go thank him for coming to get me and asked him how he managed it…” I smiled at the beautiful memory. “It wasn’t easy for him to get to New York to come find me.”

I looked down at my lap as I struggled with how tell her what happened. “It’s a very… small place where we live. It’s not always easy for people to leave, as small towns go, traveling isn’t really an option sometimes.”

“That’s normal for small towns,” she said with a smile.

_If you only knew._

“Yeah, so I asked him and he told me. I couldn’t believe it because there was no way he could afford something like that.”

“You are killing me!” Felicity gasped and I giggled.

“Did I tell you he use to sail?” She shook her head. “Yeah, he had his own boat. She was a real beauty.”

“God, that must be amazing. Oliver and I went on a cruise for our anniversary last year, and it was gorgeous being on the open waters.”

There was no easy way to say it, so I just said it. “He sold his ship for me.”

Felicity’s jaw dropped. I imagined the look on her face was close to the same one on my face when Killian first told me what he had done.

“He…”

I nodded.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“I had already decided that I wanted to be with him, to stop fighting it when I realized I wanted to stay home, because home wasn’t home without Killian. But then he told me how he traded her for me…” I fought back my tears. “We’ve been together since.”

She pressed her lips at me and I rolled my eyes. “Okay, maybe I fought it for about a week still after that, until Henry convinced me to give in. That was about six months ago.”

Felicity sat back in her seat and shook her head with a smile. “You guys are your very own fairytale.”

I chuckled and took a sip of beer. If she only knew the whole truth. My eyes moved up to her when she put her hand on my arm.

“Tell him, Emma. You’ll feel so much better when you do."

I gave her a tight lipped smile. She gave me one of her own and we both turned when we heard a beeping noise.

“Oh! That reminds me, any idea why there is this random number texting the burner phone about drinks?” She asked as she got up and grabbed the phone from the counter.

I rolled my eyes. “When Killian was grabbing the tablet, Braydon came out. I had to distract him. He’s a real piece of work. He tried flirting with me and basically begged for my number.”

“Don’t tell, Oliver,” she said with an eye roll as she handed me the phone.

I snorted. “I already heard enough from Killian, I’ll spare the big brother lecture from Oliver, thank you.”

Felicity pulled the laptop toward her and her jaw dropped. “Felicity?” She didn’t answer me. “Felicity what’s wrong?” She looked at me in horror.

“I know what Cooper is planning to do.”

"Are you serious?" I asked as I shot up from my seat and stood behind her.

I had no idea what was on the computer screen but Felicity obviously knew. I crossed my arms as she rubbed her temples.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, Felicity shot up from her seat and went to pour herself another glass of wine.

"Should I get..."

"Not yet," she answered as she took another sip. "Let me just process this." "Process what? Felicity you're not really giving me anything to go on here."

She downed her wine and poured another glass. The burner phone beeped again but we both ignored it. I took a sip of my beer because I didn't know what else to do. In Storybrooke I always knew what to do, people looked to me for answers, but in New York, I felt lost.

The silence was interrupted by a holler.

"We must protect the queen and princess Emma!"

Felicity and I looked up in the doorway to see Oliver running in, he had a plastic crown on his head, and Thea wrapped around his back. Next to them, Killian ran in wearing a ridiculous looking pirate hat with a fake toy cutlass in his right hand.

If Felicity hadn't just discovered Cooper's plan, the scene would have been completely comical. But the two men only had to take one look at us to know that something was wrong.

"Babe...?" Oliver asked in a concerned tone at the same time Killian spoke with the same tone. "Emma?"

"Mommy! Daddy and Uncle Killy defeated the Pirates! We're here to rescue you and Aunt Emma," which sounded more like 'memma' "from their prison!"

Felicity gasped and put her hand to her chest. "My heroes!"

Thea giggled and jumped down from her fathers back, who had been still standing there in silence. The little girl ran up to her mother and jumped up and down.

"Now you have to give him true love's kiss!"

Felicity smiled at her daughter and moved toward Oliver. Thea turned to me. "You too, Aunt Emma!"

"You are very right, Princess!" I gasped.

As I walked up to Killian, I saw Oliver's brow go together in question toward his wife before she leaned up and kissed him. Thea giggled and jumped up and down as Oliver wrapped his arms around Felicity and pulled her into a tight hug.

I approached Killian who had the same look as Oliver before I leaned up and gave him a kiss. "Yay!" Thea called out as she started to clap.

Felicity sniffled and turned back to the little girl. "Thea, sweetheart. I'm going to call Raisa, it's time for your bath."

Thea's face dropped. "But mommy! We are supposed to go have tea with the fairies to celebrate!"

Felicity walked over to a phone in the corner and picked it up while Oliver knelt in front of his daughter. "Thea, mommy isn't feeling to well right now. Raisa will come to give you your bath and you can tell her all about our battle. We'll have tea with the fairies some other time."

Thea tried to argue as Killian continued to stare at me in question. I shrugged my shoulders and wrapped my arms around myself. Killian put his hand on my back and started to rub slowly and I immediately felt safer.

A few moments passed by before an older woman walked into the dining room. She had salt and pepper hair and kind eyes.

Oliver stood and gave her a small smile. "Raisa, we're so sorry, it's your night off but something..." The elder woman held up her hand and spoke with a Russian accent.

"S'no problem, Mr. Oliver. It'll be my pleasure to give princess Thea her bath." Raisa held her hand out to the little girl. "Come, Princess Thea! Shall we have the fairies join in bath time?"

Thea's eyes lit up and she ran up to take her hand. "Ms. Raisa there was a battle with pirates and daddy and Uncle Killy kept them away!"

"Really?" The woman gasped.

Thea's voice could be heard as she walked out of the room and down the hallway, the whole time she told the elderly woman about their heroic tale.

I turned back to Killian and flicked at his hat with a smile. "Nice hat, Captain."

Killian blushed and took his hat off and placed it on the table along with his toy cutlass. "What's going on, Felicity?" Oliver asked as he removed the crown.

"I know what Cooper wants. It's all on the tablet Killian took."

Felicity took a deep breath. "Thirteen years ago, I wrote a virus to hack government main frames. He must have figured out how to enhance it when I refused to help him when I got out jail and ran with it. Cooper took that virus and ran with it. He's been using it since then to hack mainframes and bank roll himself. But a couple years ago, a unnamed party, me, sent an email to the government telling them how to stop the virus and who was responsible for it. Ever since then he's been stopped and has had to turn to other things to get his money. The company I work for is unveiling a chip next month, it's a new wave in technology. It will basically make your computer obsolete. But right now, it's still in its finishing stages and if someone like Cooper got his hands on it, he would be unstoppable. Banks, trust funds, nothing would be safe, basically anything the Internet can touch, he'd be able to get into."

I looked over at Killian and saw his face showed pure confusion. My head hurt from what she had been telling us, so his had to have been exploding.

"What does he want you for then, lass?"

"I built the firewall that protects to chip. There's no way he could get passed it. He's good, but I've always been better. My guess? He wants to me to break the firewall so he can get the chip."

"And he's stupid enough to think you'll actually do that?" I asked.

"I'm sure he has some kind of trick up his sleeve," Felicity rubbed her forehead. "What do we do to stop him?" Oliver asked.

Her brows went together in thought before she turned to Killian. "What else was in that van?" Killian let out a breath and shook his head. "Ugh..."

Oliver cut him off. "Babe, I hardly know what half that stuff is, I doubt Killian would know." "I need to get in that van."

The burner phone went off again and an idea popped in my head. I picked up the phone and looked down to see a message.

# Come on, gorgeous. I won't take no for an answer.

I bit my lip. It was a risk, but I knew it was one we had to take.

"Do you think all of that stuff will still be in the van still?" Oliver asked. Felicity nodded. "Cooper isn't going to set up base until the time is right."

"Okay, so we go back to that persons house and get inside the van again," Killian suggested and Felicity shook her head.

"I'll need time, I can't worry about someone catching us." "He keeps the van parked outside his flat."

"He could catch us at anytime," Oliver stated.

I cleared my throat and they all looked at me. "I have an idea."

I walked up to the table and placed the phone down. Felicity looked at the phone then back up at me. "What are you doing with the burner phone?" Oliver asked and Killian's jaw went tight.

I opened my mouth but Killian cut me off. "No."

"Killian..."

"It's not happening!" He hissed out and took a step forward.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on here?" Oliver asked, frustrated.

"Emma here had to distract that Braydon when I was in the van. He asked for her number and she gave him that one so he would leave," Killian explained as he motioned toward the phone. "And now she's planning on accepting his request of a date so that Felicity can get into the van, aren't you, Swan?"

I kept my mouth shut and felt Oliver's eyes snap toward mine before he looked back at Felicity. I didn't have to look at her to know that even though she probably didn't like the plan, she supported me.

"No!" Oliver growled out as he jumped up from his seat. "You're both insane and this is _not _happening!" Felicity took a step forward. "I need to get into that van! It's the only way to stop him."

"No, you're not risking being in that van," he growled then turned and pointed to me. "And you're not going on a date as cover with a mad men."

"We don't know he's a..." I started. "It's doesn't matter!" Killian hissed.

I ran my hands through my hair. "Look, will the both of you just listen..." "No!" Oliver and Killian shouted at the same time and my face went hard.

"Really?" I snapped. "I'm going to do this, I can take care of myself! We," I motioned between Felicity and myself. "Can take care of ourselves!"

Both men were silent and I sighed.

"Look, I'll distract him while the three of you go check out the van."

Killian huffed but Oliver was the one that spoke up. "With no back up? That's not how we do things, Emma and you know it! I don't care if it's been years since we've been partners but you know that's not how I work."

"You'll need more than one look out on Felicity," I said through clenched teeth. "He's not going to do anything to me in a restaurant filled with people!"

"No, of course not. He could just try something after, or before." Killian said with a shrug. "I can take care of..."

"Do you remember what happened last time, Emma?"

I looked up at Oliver with wide eyes. My eyes went over to Killian then back to Oliver. "Ollie..." I warned.

He chuckled and looked at Killian. "I'm guessing she left out the part where she was in a hospital bed next to Felicity for a week after what happened."

Killian's eyes snapped over to me. I glared at him. "How dare you..."

"Me?" Oliver yelled. "I've gone through this before, Emma. This is the same exact thing that happened then."

My fists clenched at my sides. "It's not!" "It is!" He hollered out.

"Oliver..." Felicity started.

"No! He deserves to know the truth," he looked back at me but spoke to Killian. "Emma and I were partners. We wanted to catch Cooper for what he did and he was a lot easier to track back then. Emma decided to set him up with the whole 'date to distract him' thing so I could search his place for..." Oliver stopped and looked down as he choked on his own words. "For the bat he used on Felicity."

Killian's face was stone as he kept his eyes locked on mine.

"When they left the restaurant, he dragged her into an alley. He knew who she was and slammed her head against a brick wall."

Killian's eyes went wide and moved to my hair line. It was almost like he knew the scar already.

"Some people saw him and he ran. I was her emergency contact, when I got to the hospital she was just arriving. Her head was split open, they thought she might of had brain damage."

I felt Oliver's eyes on me again and I had to force myself to look away from Killian. But when I saw the unshed tears in Oliver's eyes I had to look down.

"They had to use staples to close your head back up, Emma." He whispered and I looked up at the ceiling. "When you got out, we both agreed to _never _do something like that again without backup."

The room was silent and thick with anger and sadness. I could feel Killian's eyes on me, but I was too ashamed to look back at him. I had lied to him and it made me sick to my stomach.

Oliver was right, ever since that happened, I never once did something without back up. Even when he and Felicity had moved away, I always asked someone to back me up in case things went wrong.

Killian suddenly turned and walked out of the room. I watched his back disappear around the corner and my panic started to rise. I started to breathe heavy as tears formed in my eyes.

_He's leaving me... He's finally leaving me._

Felicity and I both jumped when a loud bang echoed in the hallway. Killian walked back into the room and my panic started to settle down.

_He's still here. He didn't leave me._

It was then I realized his right hand up to his wrist was covered in white dust and his knuckles were bleeding.

"Apologies about the wall, mate. I'll fix it," he mumbled.

Oliver shook his head. "Don't worry about it, it's not the first time, trust me." Felicity started to move. "I'll get the first aide kit."

Oliver walked over to the bar and pulled out two glasses while I glared at Killian. He had just went out and put his fist through a wall because he couldn't control his anger. But he refused to meet my gaze, and that only fueled my guilt.

Felicity came back into the room and told him to sit down so she could fix his hand. He sighed, sat down and held his hand out to her. Oliver walked up, handed him a glass filled with amber liquid and took a seat across the table.

I suddenly felt like the odd man out. I wrapped my arms around myself and clenched my jaw. "Ten years ago Emma, you were this closed off person. You had your walls and that was fine. I

respected your wishes, but despite all that, you became one of my best friends." Oliver started. "I've picked you up from bars on the holidays because you were upset about not having a family to spend them with, you got so drunk you couldn't walk. I bailed you out of jail when you broke that guys nose after he tried to kiss you. I've watched you literally not move from your couch for three whole days, not to eat, or shower, or even sleep because someone reminded you of your son. You've been like a little sister to me this whole time, it doesn't matter that we haven't spoken to each other in years, you were family to me when I thought I had none, and you still are."

I fought back my tears as Oliver took a sip of his drink and turned to Felicity.

"You," she stopped her work on Killian's hand and looked up at her husband. "I've seen you lying in a hospital bed, barely recognizable. I've picked you up when the fear of Cooper coming back had you paralyzed. I watched you give birth to our daughter. I've loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you, Felicity."

Oliver looked back at his glass. "Besides that little girl upstairs, you two are the most important women in my life. We will find another way."

We were all silent, the only sound was the occasional sniffle from Felicity or myself and the sound of her working on Killian's hand.

Killian lifted his glass and downed it. I wiped my eyes and walked over to the bar. I grabbed the bottle and slowly made my way toward him.

I could tell he was watching me from the corner of his eyes, but he still refused to look directly at me. I held the bottle out to him, and unspoken question if he wanted me to give him more. His jaw clenched for a few seconds before he snatched the bottle out of my hand.

Like so many times before, he used his forefinger and thumb to unscrew the cap and let it roll away as he poured himself a glass. When he was finished he slid the bottle over to Oliver as I sat down at the end of the table.

Felicity finished wrapping Killian's hand and started to put the kit away.

"Thanks, lass." He whispered and I breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice.

She gave him a small smile, patted his arm and moved to put the kit back but stopped and turned to us.

"What if there was a way we could do Emma's plan and we both still have backup?" Felicity asked in a whisper.

We all looked up at her.

"How?" Oliver asked in confusion.

"Emma agrees to go on a date with him..." Both Killian and Oliver tensed up but my eyes went wide. "But I'll never show," I finished for her.

"By the time he figures out he's been stood up, we'll be long gone." Felicity offered. "Felicity that's genius!" I told her.

"Think about it, this way we are all together and no one is left without back up," she explained. Oliver and Killian looked at each other, it was almost like they were having a silent conversation. "It could work," Oliver was the first one that finally spoke.

Killian wiped his lips. "Aye, it could."

They stared at each other again before Oliver picked up the burner phone and slid it over to me. "Better set up your date."


	11. Chapter 11

#  Chapter Eleven

My "date" was set.

Braydon and Jennie were going to meet two days later at a local bar for drinks. Only Braydon didn't know that Jennie wasn't going to be there.

Killian and I left after that.

The ride back to the apartment was silent. The only interaction Killian had made with me was when he held out his hand after I had taken the car keys out of my pocket. I handed them over without question and stared out the window as he drove.

When I didn't tell him about what happened with Cooper, I didn't really think. I had just wanted to spare him and my parents the details because I knew it would have hurt them.

I never dreamed that Oliver would have spilled the beans to him, but apparently Killian and Oliver had come to some sort of understanding over the last couple days and decided to be best mates.

I wanted to apologize, I wanted to beg him to forgive me because I was terrified he was going to leave.

Deep down in my gut, part of me knew it was ridiculous, but I had been left my entire life, it only had to be a matter of time before he left too.

My throat constricted as we rode the elevator up in silence and I felt sick to my stomach.

_He's going to leave, he's going to leave me._

Killian unlocked the door and motioned for me to go in first. I was halfway down the hall when the door slammed shut which caused me to jump. I moved to the dining room as Killian stomped into the kitchen. I let out a sigh and took off my jacket as Killian pounded around the kitchen. I took my boots off and tossed them to the side as he slammed a glass onto the island.

"You're mad," I whispered as he poured himself a glass of the rum I had bought him the other night. Killian snorted and took a gulp of his drink after he mumbled, "You're a preceptive one."

"Killian..."

He leaned against the counter and motioned toward me. "Let me ask you something, Swan. If had just been me, if you're parents weren't there when you told the tale of your friends, would you have told me the truth about what Cooper had done to you?"

I took a step forward and opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I wanted to say yes, but I knew myself. I knew even if it had just been me and him, I would have still kept it from him.

When I closed my mouth, Killian chuckled darkly, shook his head and took another sip of his drink. "That's what I thought."

My fists clenched at my sides as I tried to remain calm. I understood why he was upset, I lied to him, but it was still hard for me to have someone that in depth with my life.

"I didn't..."

"You'd thought you'd spare us a detail, you believed to be unimportant. Is that what you were about to say?" My mouth closed. "Aye, but that's not the truth again, is it, Swan? The truth is, you didn't tell us that little detail because if you had, you knew we would have fought harder to keep you from going, or at the very least, would have had the entire family insisting upon coming, too."

I crossed my arms and pressed my lips together.

"But that's neither here nor there. I get it, I may not like it, but I get it. No, what I'm mad about is that once we crossed that line, you should have told me!" He hissed. "And you bloody well shouldn't have lied to me!"

I shook my head and turned. "I don't have to deal with this."

"And she's off!" He mumbled into his glass as he took a sip when I walked down the hallway. I stopped and turned back to him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He gestured with his hand and took a step toward me. "It means that no matter what anyone does, no matter what I do, your first instinct is still to run."

"I'm not running... I'm..." I struggled with my words. "You're what? Going for a light jog?" He asked sarcastically.

I ran my hands through my hair. "I knew you would get this way, that's why I didn't tell you. You'd worry about it every time we went out!"

"Because that's my job!" Killian hollered. "It's my job to make sure you stay protected. Fuck! Emma, are you every going to trust me?!"

"I do trust you!" I screamed back.

He shook his head. "No, you don't. You think you do, but you forget that I can read you, Swan. When I walked back into that room at Oliver's I saw it all over your face, you thought I left."

I blinked and Killian clenched his jaw.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't."

I pressed my lips together and looked at the ground.

Killian threw his glass against the cabinets and I jumped at the sound of breaking glass. "I am not Baelfire." He screamed.

My whole body froze and my heart pounded in my chest as he spoke.

"I will not leave you," Killian said through clenched teeth. "Doesn't matter what you've done, doesn't matter what you do. I could give two fucks about destiny or prophecies. I know he did what he thought was best at the time, but he's a better man than I, because I wouldn't have. Down side of being a pirate, I'm completely selfish and there is nothing in this realm or any other that would make it worth loosing you. So stop punishing me for his mistakes!"

"I'm not punishing you!" I cried out.

"You are!" He accused. "Every time you push me away, every time you think I'll leave, every time you keep something important from me, that's you punishing me!"

My eyes shot up to his and went wide. Tears threatened to spill and my instincts told me I needed to get out of there. I turned back and walked toward the door. Just as I opened it, Killian's hand shot out from behind me and pushed it shut, before he yanked me around to face him.

"No, I'm not letting you run, Emma."

My body started to shake and I felt trapped.

"Just let me go!" I screamed, but he didn't move. "No more running."

I growled and shoved him against the chest.

"Why do you have to do this?!" I hollered with tears in my eyes. "I was fine! My life was fine before you showed up and twisted it all around! So what if I ran! I did it for twenty eight years and that was fine!"

Killian stared at me with a blank face.

"And then you come in and have me question everything! Who I am, what I'm doing!" I shoved him again. "You were supposed to be like everyone else! You're a fucking pirate! But no, you stayed, and you were there and ever since then my life has turned upside down! Now all I can think about whenever there's a crisis is how terrified I am to lose you, how the thought of it alone almost breaks me!"

My whole body shook as tears ran down my face.

"You can't just come into somebody's life and..." I searched for the right words, but when they didn't come I let out a growl and shoved him again.

"You were supposed to be like everyone else!" I repeated. "You were supposed to leave!" Killian's eyes were bright with tears as he shook his head. "Never."

We both stood there staring at each other, our chests heaved from the yelling. My entire life my heart had never been whole, because every person I met had put a crack in it.

Flashes of each heartbreak that caused a crack went through my mind.

_The cops slap handcuffs on me and I realize Neal has left me to take the fall. _Killian took step toward me and reached out, affectively healing one of the cracks. "No," I sobbed and pushed his arms away, I was terrified.

_Graham collapses in my arms and dies._

He took another step forward and healed another crack. "No," I pushed his arms away again, but with less fight. _Walsh turns into a flying monkey and tries to kill me._

Killian took a third step forward and I had never been more scared in my entire life then in that moment because I felt another crack heal.

He held my elbows and I tried, half heartedly, to push him away again. His hands moved up to cup my face and force me to look up at him.

When my eyes met his, I didn't hold back. I grabbed the labels if his jacket, pulled him to me, and slammed my lips onto his own. Killian didn't hesitate to respond as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. The kiss was full of heat and passion and completely put the one we shared in Neverland to shame.

My back slammed against the door as Killian pushed himself onto me. His taste filled my senses and I wanted more. My hands went back to his chest and I shoved him off of me.

Caught off guard, Killian stumbled back into the table that was against my wall. He looked at me confused before I launched myself at him. My mouth devoured him as my hands gripped his hair.

I let go of his hair and put my hands on his shoulders so that I could get some leverage. We nipped and sucked at each other's lips, both giving as hard as we received. I grabbed the labels of his jacket and shoved it off of him. He shook it off before he moved us until my back slammed against the opposite wall and my hands were pinned above my head. My head hit the wall and I closed my eyes in pleasure as his lips kissed their way down my jaw until they were on my neck.

"Oh god," I gasped out as Killian sucked the pulse point on my neck.

He answered with a moan and grounded his hips into me. I had to bite my lip when I felt how ready he was for me. He moved his right hand to tangle in my hair and yanked my head to the side so that he could have better access while his left found its way under my shirt. I reached down and clawed at his stomach and chest, my fingers itched to feel his skin.

His hands moved to the bottom of my shirt and we pulled apart just long enough so that Killian could rip my it over my head before he attacked my lips again. We both moaned loudly as he groped my breasts for the first time. My fingers fumbled with his buttons, but when I couldn't get them to go, I gripped his shirt and ripped it open. Before the buttons even hit the ground, my fingers clawed his chest.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump._

Killian groaned into my mouth and it went right down to my core. His hands left my breasts, moved down to my hips, around to my lower back, to grip my ass. I moaned as he pulled my pelvis into him before his hands moved to the back of my thighs.

I felt him pull at the back of my thighs and I didn't hesitate to jump up and wrap my legs around his waist. He pulled us away from the wall and my mind turned to mush when he sucked my tongue into his mouth. I wrapped my left arm around his shoulder to hold on while I reached in between us with my right to palm him over his jeans. Killian stumbled and I felt myself land on the dining room table as my eyes rolled into the back of head.

He felt so good and his moans were turning me on more and more. Killian pulled away from our kiss and rested his forehead against my own. He squeezed his eyes shut and moaned as I continued to palm him.

"Bloody hell," he moaned.

I leaned forward, took his ear in between my teeth and gripped him tighter. I reached with shaking hands and started to frantically unbuckle his belt as his hands made their way under my skirt. His fingers found the top of my tights quickly before he yanked them down my legs along with my panties. When his pants were finally undone, his left hand gripped my hip and pulled me to the edge as the right moved to wrap around the back of my neck while I pushed his pants down.

We pulled apart slightly and our eyes connected. His fingers tightened on the back of my neck and his thumb rubbed my cheek bone as he lined himself up at my entrance.

Killian pushed forward and we both moaned loudly in pleasure. I couldn't remember the last time I remembered feeling so full, or even if I ever had before.

He leaned his forehead against my own as he started to move. He started out slow and my fingers found their way into his hair again.

"Christ, Emma," he moaned.

The way he moaned my name had me on fire and I pulled his lips down onto my own again. Our tongues massaged each other while he moved in and out of me. I hooked my legs around his back as he pulled me closer. I felt his hands every where and felt every inch of him that was inside of me.

His lips moved back down my neck as he started to move faster. The moans that I made should have been embarrassing, I was always quiet when it came to sex, it probably had something to do with the fact I didn't want other people to know my business, but with Killian I couldn't be quiet if I tried.

The things he did to my body seemed unearthly.

His lips moved down my neck to my chest and I leaned back to give him better access. Eventually, I leaned back on my elbows and looked up at him. I licked my lips at how utterly sexy he looked. His hair was a mess from my hands, his face showed pure pleasure, his shirt was open and pushed halfway down his shoulders, and his chest tight. My eyes went to his chest and a primal urge surged through me as I saw my name that he had tattooed on his chest. I squeezed my eyes shut as he reached up and yanked one of my bra cups down seconds before his lips latched on to my nipple.

"Oh fuck, Killian!" I moaned out.

He moaned louder and moved his hips faster. My hands gripped his biceps and my head was thrown back in pleasure.

"So good," he whispered as he kissed his way back up my chest to my neck. "You feel amazing."

I nodded quickly to agree with him because I couldn't speak. Our lips connected and I tightened my legs around his hips to bring him even closer.

"Perfect," I gasped out against his lips.

"So bloody perfect," he groaned before he kissed me again.

I kept my left elbow on the table for leverage and wrapped my right arm around his neck. My muscles started to tighten as I climbed closer to my edge.

"Killian... Harder!"

He grunted and slammed his hips into mine. His lips connected with mine as his hands grabbed my ass. He used his grip to go faster and harder and I gasped into his mouth.

"Come on, love. Give it to me," he moaned against my lips.

I gulped and nodded. Our lips brushed against each other but we didn't kiss. I squeezed my eyes shut as I got closer.

"No," he grunted and pumped harder. "Look at me, Emma."

My eyes shot open and connected with his. I whimpered as I felt myself climb higher and higher. Killian moved his hand from his grip on my bottom to in between us and when his fingers circled my clit, I exploded.

"Oh my god!" I gasped.

I threw my head back and cried out in pleasure. My skin was on fire and my face was numb. My nails drug in Killian's skin as I saw stars behind my eyes.

Killian's thrusts started to become erratic just as I started to come down. "Fuck, Emma!" He grunted as he emptied himself into me.

My elbows finally gave out and I collapsed back onto the table. Killian followed and rested his head on my chest. We both laid there and just basked as we tried to catch our breath. After a few moments, I unhooked my legs from around his waist when I felt his legs start to shake. He lifted his head to look up at me and I bit my lip. I thought 'just woken up' Killian was adorable, but 'post orgasm' Killian took the cake.

He reached up and placed a soft kiss on my lips. "Well, Princess..."

He started and I couldn't help but blush and giggle.

Sex had always been easy for me, a means to scratch an itch. When I was finished, I always looked for the best excuse to get up and run. But with Killian I felt like a school girl.

Killian chuckled and gave me another kiss before he pushed himself up. I hissed as he pulled out of me, then sat up and squeezed my legs together. I could feel his release as it leaked out and I was thankful I had started to take the pill again when we got together.

I fixed my bra as Killian pulled his boxers up. With his pants still around his ankles, he pulled a chair out to sit down and untie his boots. I rolled my eyes at myself when I realized Felicity's prediction had come true, we couldn't even get fully undressed the first time we had sex.

Killian had just pulled his pants completely off when I hopped off the table. My legs wobbled and I would have tripped if Killian hadn't reached out to steady me.

"You okay, love?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow, but I knew the double meaning behind in.

I hadn't spoken a word and he was worried. I bit my lip and walked up to stand in between his legs. "Mm, I am amazing," I purred as I placed my arms on his shoulders. "That was quite a show, Captain." A blush formed on his cheeks as rubbed the back of my knees.

"And you, princess, were heaven."

I leaned down and we exchanged a soft kiss. Killian leaned back in the chair and I took the opportunity to sit down in his lap. I put my arm around his shoulder and reached up to run my fingers through his hair as he wrapped his arms around me and snuggled into my neck.

We sat in each other's arms in peaceful silence. Killian intertwined his fingers with my own and brought them up to kiss delicately. I closed my eyes and hummed.

I moved my hand up to cup his jaw and smiled as I rubbed his stubble. My head moved back slightly and I put pressure on his face so that he would turn to look up at me.

His eyes were bluer than I ever remembered them being and they showed nothing but love. He leaned up and gave me a feather light kiss on my cheek, then on my nose. Never in my life had anyone been so tender and so loving with me and it felt amazing.

We just stared into each other's eyes, and we each had a smile on our face. Killian reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear before his fingers brushed against my jaw.

His face changed to a look up of sorrow and I reached up to touch his scrunched brow. "Killian, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry for how I acted, love. It was foolish..."

I put my finger to his lips. "I'm the one the should be apologizing, not you. You were hurt. Yes, it turned into us having our first major fight, but the end result was some pretty amazing table sex, so I'd call this a win."

Killian chuckled and shook his head. "That wasn't exactly how I pictured our first time together, Emma." I shrugged. "Me either. But we wouldn't be us if we didn't do things none traditionally ."

He smiled. "Aye."

I closed my eyes and smiled as he continued to brush his fingers against my jaw. "I love you."

Killian's fingers stilled on my face and my eyes shot open wide.

_Shit, I just said that out loud._

The shocked looked on Killian's face mirrored my own. I had no intention of saying that out loud, it just slipped out.

_Why the hell did you say that out loud?!_

"What did you say?" He asked in a whisper.

_Don't say anything. Just keep your mouth shut, he knows you, he understands you. He won't pressure you._

"I love you."

_YOU SAID IT AGAIN!_

Killian's face broke out in a huge grin before he swooped in for a lip bruising kiss. It was the most awkward kiss we had ever experienced. His face was still half buried in my shoulder, his arms had me squeezed against him and our teeth scraped together from the big smiles that we couldn't seem to stop.

_Wait, am I smiling?_

Killian chuckled against my lips and rubbed his hand across my face. I waited for the panic to start, but it never came. I actually felt... lighter. My cheeks started to hurt from how much I was smiling, but I didn't care.

"God, Emma, I love you, I love you so bloody much," he mumbled before he attacked my lips again. Killian kissed me as he hooked his arm under my legs and picked me up bridal style.

I squealed. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you into our bedroom so I can show you just how much I loved hearing those words."


	12. Chapter 12

#  Chapter Twelve

True to his word, Killian took me into our bedroom and made love to me for hours. It was soft, and tender, and unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I saw a whole new side of Killian the night before and it only made me love him more.

He took his time with me, he worshipped me, whispered words of love in my ear... It was the most intimate and earth shattering sexual experience in my entire life. I felt how much he loved me, how much he cared about me and it made me feel precious and sad at the same time. I had denied and pushed him away for so long, and each time, it had to have broken his heart. I wouldn't have been able to survive if he had done the same to me. After my third climax, he finally exploded, and when we were done, I actually had tears in my eyes and all I could do was repeat 'I love you' and 'I'm sorry' over and over to him.

He just kissed my tears away and held me tight.

When I woke up the next morning, my body was sore just about everywhere, but completely relaxed at the same time.

I felt movement next to me and I knew it was early. I flung my arm out over Killian's chest before he could get up.

"Mm, too early, stay in bed."

Killian chuckled and kissed my head. "The sun is up, my love. You sleep more, I'll wake you in a few hours."

I cracked an eye open and lifted my head to see that he was right, but I still didn't want him to get out of bed, so I lifted the blanket and put it over us.

"Not anymore! See! No sun, you can stay in bed."

Killian laughed and rolled over until he was on top of me as he held the blanket over us still. "I see that! What trickery is this? Are you some sort of witch?" He asked in mock horror.

I giggled and wrapped my legs around his waist. "No trickery, Captain, it was but fake sun light. Put in the sky to tempt sailors to rise from their warm beds too soon by a demon in the sky!"

The grin on his face was wide and beautiful. "Ah, thankfully I had you here to save me from this fake sun light, Princess. How will I ever show my gratitude?"

I reached up and grabbed a hold of his necklace that dangled in between us to pull him to my lips and whispered before I kissed him, "I can think of something."

Killian kissed me softly and I felt him grow against my thigh. He reached down with his hand and I gasped into his mouth as his fingers teased my entrance.

"Already wet for me, Emma?"

"Always!" I gasped out as his finger pushed inside of me.

He groaned into my mouth as his hand worked me for a couple minutes. When he pulled out I whimpered. He really was talented with his hand.

I felt him move to line himself up, but quickly stopped him.

I pushed on his chest, and though he looked confused, he rolled onto his back. I threw my leg over his lap and straddled his waist. The blankets fell from around my shoulders and Killian's eyes widened. It was then I realized it was the first time he saw me completely bare in full light.

When we were in the dining room the night before, the only light was from the hallway and in the bedroom there was only moon light from the Windows.

"So bloody gorgeous," he whispered as his hands made their way up my body and groped my breasts.

I lifted myself until I could feel him, then slowly moved back down until he was completely inside of me.

Killian's neck went tight and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he moaned loudly.

I put my hands on his chest and started to move. I went slow at first and watched as Killian licked his lips. His jaw clenched and his eyes concentrated on my chest.

I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He was more beautiful and more of a turn on than anything on the planet.

It didn't take long for me to reach my climax, I had been building for since the second he was inside of me. It also came a lot quicker when Killian reached down to rub my swollen nub.

I threw my head back and moaned as I shuttered on top of him. When I was done, I collapsed on top of his chest, my hips moved a little slower, and my hair fell to curtain his face.

"Fuck, Emma," he moaned as he brought his hands up to my face. "You are so beautiful when you cum."

He kissed me and I started to move faster. I wanted to watch him come undone underneath me. I pulled away and leaned my forehead against his. He moved his hands back down to my waist and squeezed.

When his eyes finally connected with mine, I was filled with a wave of love again. "I love you," I breathed against his lips.

I felt his hands twitch and his jaw clench. He opened his mouth to respond but I kissed his lips to silence him. I rotated my hips and he squeezed harder.

"I love you so much, Killian," I gasped out.

"Ughhh!" He groaned out and I watched as he erupted underneath me.

_And he thought I was beautiful when I came._

***

Later, when I woke the second time, the clock on my bed side table read that it was a little after nine in the morning and I groaned. I leaned back and was surprised to find my pirate still asleep next to me.

Our nightly activities combined with our morning actives must had really done a number on him. I softly got out of the bed and padded over to my dresser to put on a pair of black boyshorts underwear. But instead of picking something to wear of my own, I grabbed the buttoned down shirt on top of the hamper Killian had worn two days prior.

As I buttoned the shirt, I walked over to Killian's side of the bed and leaned down to give him a kiss on the forehead. My pirate started to stir and I knew it wouldn't be long before he awoke. I cuffed the sleeves of his shirt a couple times so that they wouldn't hang over my hands as I walked out of the bedroom.

I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out my cell phone. Killian's pants and shoes were still on the dining room floor along with my tights and panties and I had to control my blush. Memories of the night and morning flashed through my head and I had to get rid of them quickly or else I wouldn't have been able to concentrate the whole day.

I made may toward the kitchen to make some coffee when I stepped on something. "Ah!"

I lifted my foot up to find a tiny piece of glass sticking out of my heel. I pulled it out and inspected it in confusion. But when I looked down the hallway toward the front door, my confusion turned to shock.

The hallway looked like a tornado went through it.

The vase Henry had made me was on the floor surrounded by broken glass from candles that had been on the table and random pieces of mail.

Also, the framed artwork I had that hung on the opposite wall was on the ground. The glass shattered and the wooden frame busted.

"Everything alright, love?"

I looked back to see Killian emerge from the bedroom. He was scratching the back of his head clad only in his boxers. He walked up to me and I put my arm out to stop him.

"Watch, there's glass on the floor."

"What...?" Killian trailed off as he caught sight of the hallway. "Oh." "When did everything break?" I asked, confused.

"Ugh," he answered back.

He had a genuine look of confusion on his face as he stared at the mess.

We eventually made eye contact. Killian sent me a sexy smirk and I felt my cheeks heat up.

I rolled my eyes and put my phone down on the table. "I think there is a broom in the closet." Killian took a step forward as I went to the closet.

"Be careful!" I hissed.

He rolled his eyes. "Aye, love."

We cleaned up the hallway together, but when I tried to clean up his broken glass in the kitchen, he grabbed the broom from me.

"This one is my mess, Swan. I'll do it."

I handed him the broom and leaned my hip against the island as I crossed my arms. I watched as he cleaned up the broken glass and scrunched my brow together.

"You were really angry," I mumbled.

Killian nodded as he stood and emptied the dust pan into the trash. "Aye, I was."

I pressed my lips together and Killian sighed.

"I should have told you about what happened with Cooper," I started in a whisper.

He stood, leaned against the counter in front of me and crossed his arms.

"I don't mean to punish you for Neal's mistakes. I do trust you. Killian, you are without a doubt, the only person in my life that has never left my side, but sometimes I still struggle with my walls."

"I like your walls," he told me with a small smile. "I like being the one to break them down."

"And you are, more then you know," I took a step toward him and he opened his arms to me. "You break them down every day."

Killian kissed my forehead and I looked up at him. "I love you, Killian."

His eyes closed for a second as he puffed out a breath and a beautiful, small smile graced his face. "I love you, too, Emma."

We kissed softly before he moved his hand up to my hairline and brushed his thumb over my scar. "Is this from him?"

I nodded.

"How did you know about that? My hair covers it."

He pressed his lips against the scar before he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Don't under estimate my ability to examine you when you're not looking, love. I've barely been able to keep my eyes off of you since the moment we met."

I raised my eyebrows just as he licked his lips.

"And now that I've finally had you, I plan on examining every inch of you."

The last part came out in a whisper while he leaned down to lick my neck. My whole body shivered and I had put my head to the side to give him access with out even realizing it.

The moment was interrupted when my stomach decided to growl.

We both chuckled and Killian lifted his head back up. "Is someone hungry?"

"Maybe a little. _Somebody _had me work up an appetite," I smirked and pulled away from him.

When I turned to the fridge, Killian gave me a light smack on the ass and I let out a little yelp. I gave him a mock glare before I turned toward back to the fridge. I had to bite my lip to hide my smile.

_I could get use to this._

I cooked us breakfast, bacon and eggs...

_Thank you, Felicity for stocking my fridge._

And we ate at the dining room table. Killian was on his second helping when I finished, so I threw my legs over his lap, much like I had the first night we got there, and giggled while he tried to nip my fingers as I fed him a piece of bacon.

If someone had told me a year prior, that I was going to be this deliriously happy, I would have laughed in their face.

When he was finished, we cleaned up, Killian washed while I dried, and I couldn't help but bite my lip at how sexy he looked as he stood there, his arms wet and covered in soap, in nothing but a pair of black boxers.

"So, Captain," I started as he took the towel from me to dry his hands. "We have the entire day and night off."

He turned, leaned against the sink and nodded.

"What would you like to do with our day? We could go out, I could show you New York. Take you to some of the tourists spots... It's completely up to you. What is our heading?"

He tapped his finger on his chin and pondered for a few moments before he turned to me and said, "Do north, Princess."

My brow went together.

Killian smirked. "To the bedroom."

My eyes went wide before he swept down, grabbed my legs and threw me over his shoulder like a sack. "Ah! Killian!" I laughed out as he ran us to the bedroom.

New York had to wait.

***

"Oh my god!" I gasped and collapsed face down onto the bed.

Killian moved from behind me and fell to lay on his back at my side. "Aye," he panted in agreement.

Our bodies were covered in a layer of sweat, I could feel my hair as it stuck to my back, and Killian's hair was matted to his forehead.

"I think you broke me," I groaned out as I tried to move, but collapsed back down onto my stomach. Killian panted out a chuckle. "I certainly hope not."

"Well," I brushed my hair out of face. "My legs definitely aren't working for the foreseeable future." "Legs are over rated," he said with a shrug.

We laid there trying to catch our breath in silence. I examined his profile and bit my lip. There was no doubt I had always thought Killian was attractive. His jaw line was always covered in just the right amount of stubble, his lips were perfect, and his eyes...

I shivered as I thought about his eyes. The first time I had noticed how blue they were was on the lake in the Enchanted Forest. Those eyes had haunted my dreams for days after.

I chuckled to myself when I remembered the words he had spoken to me.

Killian cracked open an eye and looked over at me. "It's bad form to laugh at a man after you've lain together, Swan."

"I was just thinking about something you said to me before..." He turned and bent his elbow to rest his head on his hand. "What's that?"

"When I jab you with my sword you'll feel it..."

Killian smirked and licked his bottom lip. "I am a man of my word."

I pushed myself into my elbows and leaned over to give him a kiss. "That you are, Captain."

***

At some point during the day, we made our way out to the living room to lay on the couch and watch TV.

I bit my lip and snuggled into Killian's chest as I waited for his reaction. "Why do they have him wearing tights?" He asked in confusion.

I shrugged and pressed my lips together to hold in my laugh. "That's just..." He trailed off and I was about to burst.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THAT?!" He shot up, which caused me almost to fall off the couch but I caught myself.

I couldn't help it, I started to laugh my ass off.

"No, no, no! Turn the bloody thing off right now!" Tears started to fill my eyes at how hard I was laughing. "It's not funny, Swan! Why... Are you sodding kidding me?! No! Turn it off!"

I continued to laugh as I reached over and grabbed the remote. I turned the TV off and hold to hold my side because it started to hurt.

"That is a travesty! Who _made _that?!" "Oh my god, stop!" I laughed.

Killian glared at me and I laughed harder. "You wanted to see it! Don't be mad!"

"Don't be mad?!" He growled at me. "Swan, I look like a bloody poofter! That doesn't resemble me at all! That looks like Black Beard! Not me!"

I wiped a tear from my eye as I continued to laugh then motioned to the TV, "Well, in this world, that's Captain Hook!"

When we decided to be lazy on the couch, I couldn't help myself. I asked him if he wanted to watch Peter Pan to see what he looked like. He shrugged and agreed. I knew his reaction was going to be priceless and he didn't disappoint.

"That is what a perm is?! That," he pointed to the screen. "Is Black Beard! I always thought he looked ridiculous, as a cartoon it's even more ridiculous"

I finally stopped laughing and moved closer to him. "Aw, it's okay, hunnie. You are much better looking then your cartoon."

"That is not me!" He growled through clenched teeth.

I chuckled and leaned forward to kiss him. "Don't worry. You never have to see that again." He grumbled and stared at the black screen. "Bloody curse is what that is."

I moved into his lap. "We all know that the Disney movies didn't exactly get them right." "Get them right?! It's a complete lie!"

I giggled and put my hands on his jaw. "I know, you're my big bad pirate." He pressed his lips together and looked at me. "Don't mock me, Swan."

I shook my head. "I'm not. You are my big sexy pirate." He clenched his jaw and I leaned forward and kissed it.

"I for one am glad you don't look like that," I mumbled as I kissed down his neck. "That's not me!" He hissed.

I chuckled and shook my head. "No, it's not... Captain Hook."

Killian tried to let out another grumble but it came out more like a huff as I nipped at his neck. I could feel him start to respond to me from my lap and I moved my lips down to his collar bone.

"Swan..." He moaned.

"Shhh," I said before I kissed myself down his chest.

I found his tattoo and my tongue circled it. Killian hissed and his hands gripped my waist. I moved and kissed where I knew his heart was.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._

I kissed down to his stomach and slid my body down. "Emma, what are you doing?" He asked, breathless.

I looked up at him and smiled. "Showing you how much I appreciate how you _don't _look like that cartoon, Captain Hook."

His nostrils flared and I continued my voyage. I bit his hip bone lightly and his hips jerked. He panted as he tried to sit up. I reached up and put my hand on his chest to push him down.

"Please lay back, Captain Hook."

He groaned and laid back fully on the couch. I grasped the top of his boxers and pulled them down. I kissed each new patch of skin that was exposed and had heard him groan as his cock popped out. I gripped him in my hand and twirled my tongue around his tip.

"Fuuuucckkk," he hissed and I felt his hands go up to his face.

When I finally took him into my mouth, Killian's hips jerked and I felt his hand slam onto the back of the couch. My hand gripped the base of him as I bobbed my head up and down. His right hand landed on his thigh and made a first.

"Nnnughhh," he moaned out.

The noises he made encouraged me and I started to suck harder and faster. My hand followed my mouth and I felt him slam his head back down.

"Bloody hell," he groaned out in almost pain.

After a while, I felt his thighs start to shake and I knew it wouldn't take long for him to finish. His right hand moved to the back of my head and I waited for the typical guy move to start to control my movements. But he surprised me once again when he placed his hand on top of my head, tangled his fingers in my hair, and massaged my scalp.

"Emma..." He moaned as a warning but I kept going.

I sucked him fully down until he touched the back of my throat and tried to hold back my gag reflex. "Arghhh!" He hollered out and my mouth was filled with his release.

I swallowed him down, swirled my tongue around his tip and smirked as I felt his body shutter from being sensitive.

I let him fall out of my mouth before I pulled his boxers back up and put them in place. I crawled back up, placed my hands on his chest and rested my chin there as I stared at him. His head was thrown back, his eyes were trained on the ceiling as he panted.

"If that's your way of showing appreciation, feel free to show it anytime, love," Killian breathed out. I smirked. "Aye, aye, Captain."

He finally looked down at me and his face showed pure relaxation as he gave me a smirk. I felt him put pressure on my arm and I moved up.

Killian took my face in his hands and kissed me deeply.

"I think it's time I return the favor," he mumbled against my lips and a shiver ran down my spine.

I moaned as he licked my lips and gripped my ass before he flipped us so that he was on top of me on the couch.

I felt the burn from his stubble in between my thighs the rest of the night.


	13. Chapter 13

#  Chapter Thirteen

I laid on the bed sideways, Killian's legs were used as my pillow and I had a sheet thrown over me. My heart was pounding and my chest heaved up and down. Our pants filled the room along with the noise from outside.

I ran a hand over my sweaty forehead before I reached back to touch his calf. My entire body was tingling and my muscles felt like goo. I swallowed and it wasn't until that moment I realized how thirsty I was.

"Are we dead?" I breathed out.

Killian chuckled in between his pants. He reached down and put his hand on my sweaty shoulder.

"If we are, this is bloody heaven."

I nodded and closed my eyes. Never in my entire life had I spent an entire day having sex. Neal and I only had sex twice in the little time we were together and every one after that had always been one night stand material. Even Walsh, it was always a quick rush so that I could get back home to Henry.

_When we get home I'm so getting my own place. _"We should really get some sleep," I breathed out. "Aye," Killian agreed.

I turned my head to see the sky had started to lighten. "What time is it?" I asked as I forced myself to sit up.

I held the sheet to my chest as he answered. "A little after five."

I groaned and collapsed into his side when I finally was able to move. I snuggled into his chest and let out a content sigh.

Killian kissed my forehead.

"Let's try and get a couple hours of sleep, love."

My eyes were closed before he even finished speaking.

***

"Are we all ready to do this?" Oliver asked us from the front of his car.

I reached forward and grabbed two of the ear pieces from the front. I put mine in and handed one to Killian. He took the small piece and looked at me confused. I had to bite my lip. I took the ear piece from his hand and turned to him to put it in.

"It's so we can all talk to each other," I whispered to him as I placed it in his ear. "We'll all be able to hear everything that's going on since we'll be separated."

He shivered when I put the piece in and I kissed his jaw.

"Okay," Felicity started as she turned back to us. "Emma, you're going to stay here in the car while Oliver, Killian and I are going to walk to his block. Then Killian's going to stay at the corner to keep a look out and Oliver and I are going to go to the van."

We all nodded before we got out of the car. Killian pulled me into his arms and gave me a breath taking kiss.

"Be careful, Swan."

"You, too." I whispered back. "I love you." Yeah, I liked saying it.

He smiled and kissed me again. "I love you, too."

I exchanged a look with Oliver and Felicity and gave them a nod before the three of them left. We had parked three blocks down so that we wouldn't be caught so I knew it would be a few minutes before they actually got there. I got in the car and turned the heat up a little.

"Child's Play 2, way better than the original," I heard Ollie speak into the ear piece and I smiled. Whenever we went out on stake outs before we always discussed what horror movies were our favorites to keep us from getting nervous. "The way they burnt Chuckie at the end was classic."

"It was disgusting," Felicity grumbled. "Dead Silence. Now they were killer dolls." I shivered because that movie scared the shit out of me.

"Is that the one with the old woman?" Killian asked and they confirmed before he chuckled. "Henry had us watch that one night. Emma was terrified."

"Dolls freak me out!" I hissed as I kept my eyes on the street. "Especially porcelain ones." They all chuckled.

"Oliver is afraid of ghost children!" Felicity giggled and I heard him gasp. "Killian hated the movie IT."

"Oyi!"

I bit back my laughter.

"That movie _is _terrifying," Oliver agreed. "Clowns are fucked up."

"Aye. Who thought it was a good idea to put makeup all over your face with bright colored clothes?" "A demon from hell, that's who," Oliver responded.

"Your bromance is terrifying," I mumbled. "I second that," Felicity spoke up.

"Aw, don't be jealous, gorgeous," Oliver chuckled. "She's been jealous of us since the first night, mate." I rolled my eyes. "Are you guys..."

"What the hell is that?" I heard Felicity gasp and I sat up. "Guys? What's wrong?"

"Where the bloody hell did all those people come from?" "What's going on?!" I hissed.

"There's some sort of...party, the neighbors are having a party. They are all outside on the front porch." Oliver answered.

I leaned my head back against the head rest. "The van?" I asked.

"It's still outside, but it's right in front of everyone."

I tossed my cell phone on the passenger seat with an annoyed huff as Oliver spoke. "You know what that means, Emma..."

"Yeah," I growled as yanked my hair out of my pony tail. "I'm late for my date." "I'm sorry, Em," Felicity spoke.

I clenched my jaw and nodded.

"And you have to be charming," Oliver said. "We have to get him to ask you out again."

***

I forced a fake smile as Braydon told me about the cars that he owned and only thought about punching him a few times. My eyes looked up toward the bar to see Killian sitting there nursing a beer. After our plan had failed, Felicity had decided to go back to the house to do more research while me, Oliver and Killian headed toward the bar. He didn't like the plan, but he let me do it on the condition he got to sit at the bar to watch us.

We agreed only because Cooper had never met Killian before and he would have no idea who he was.

_"Jesus, is this guy serious?" _I heard Oliver groan from my ear piece. I pressed my lips together and concentrated on Braydon.

_"I've had more interesting conversations with sea creatures that couldn't talk," _Killian mumbled back. "So, yeah, my other car is a hemi. It's in the shop right now, but I'll have it back next week."

_"A hemi? What does he think this is the Fast and the Furious?" "Maybe he's compensating for something else, mate."_

I bit my lip because I was about to laugh out loud.

"I'll be back in a second, doll. I'm going to run and get us another round." I gave him a smile and rolled my eyes when his back was turned.

"You guys are killing me!!" I hissed and they both chuckled.

_"Hey there sexy. Ready for some company yet?"_

My jaw clenched. "And I'm about to introduce that girl to my right hook!"

A chesty brunette had approached Killian twice while he sat at the bar and each time he turned her down. I knew it was because he was being too nice, she had probably thought eventually she would where him down.

Killian chuckled and Oliver spoke.

_"Ugh, Killian if I were you, I'd get her away quick. We don't need Emma starting a bar fight." "Sorry, lass. Honestly, I'm just here having a drink until my girlfriend gets off of work."_

I saw the women deflate and I did a mental happy dance.

_"Girlfriend?"_

_"Aye. She's the best."_

My heart melted and Oliver fake sniffled.

_"Awe, Killian, I think you're the best, too."_

I rolled my eyes and did a mental happy dance as the woman walked away to lick her wounds. I looked toward the bar and sighed.

"What the hell is taking him..." I whispered but stopped when I heard the chair in front of me pull out. I turned with a fake smile but it quickly faded when I saw who was seated in front of me.

"Hello, Emma," he said with a twisted smile. I swallowed.

"Cooper."


	14. Chapter 14

_"What?!" _I heard Oliver hiss just as Killian stood from the bar.

My eyes connected with his and I shook my head to signal for him to stay back. His jaw clenched but he stayed put.

"Yes, tell your guard dog at the bar to stay where he is or I'll press this button," he held up a hand held remote. "Which will cause the Bomb I have in the car outside to go off."

I looked at him in shock. He grinned, pulled out a folder and slid it over to me. I clenched my jaw and opened the folder to find photos of Killian entering the van and photos of myself talking to Braydon.

"You use to be more careful," Cooper smirked.

I slammed the folder shut and shoved it back to him.

"And you're still a piece of shit that has other people do your dirty work," I said through clenched teeth. Cooper leaned back in the chair and smiled.

"This is old school, Emma. Set someone up for a date to get information. If memory serves, it didn't turn out too well last time either."

I clenched my fists. Visions from the first time we had tried this flashed through my mind. He led me into an alley, and acted like he was going to kiss me. Then he grabbed my hair and slammed my face into the wall. I remembered he screamed words as he did it, but it was all a blur. I remembered the only thing that went through my mind at that moment were the sounds of a crying baby boy I had never even looked at or held.

My body shivered as the fear I had felt back then crept it's way back up. It didn't matter that I had years of defense training, it didn't matter that I had faced people and creatures he couldn't even imagine let alone believe existed, all the mattered was that I was currently sitting in front of the man that almost killed me and my friend.

"Tell me, how's your head?"

I saw from the corner of my eye Killian had started to take two steps forward, his face showed pure rage, and Cooper held up the remote again.

"Ah, ah. That wouldn't be wise. I'm not finished talking to Emma," he sat up, turned and growled in Killian's direction.

My eyes went behind him and I almost let out a sigh of relief when I saw Oliver. Cooper turned back in me but before he could open his mouth, Oliver snatched the remote out of his hand tossed it to Killian who showed up quicker than I thought possible.

Cooper looked back in shock before he let out a chuckle and sat back in his seat.

Killian came to my side and I immediately stood. I started to calm when I felt his hand on the small of my back.

"The old gang is back together I see. Should have known that bitch would open her mouth," Cooper said through clenched teeth.

Oliver growled and slammed his hands down onto the table. "Speak about my wife like that again, and I will end you!"

Cooper chuckled. "You don't scare me, Queen. Felicity will do what I want, and now thanks to you, it'll be done faster than I had hoped."

Oliver grabbed his shirt and yanked him up from the seat. Killian and I took a step forward as people started to look.

"She's not going to do anything. What's going to happen is that Emma here is going to call the cops and you're going to jail for a very, very long time."

Cooper laughed as I took my cell phone out. "If you don't want anything to happen to your wife, Emma is going to put her phone away."

We all froze.

"Empty threats won't help you," Killian growled.

Cooper's eyes moved to mine before they motioned down to the folder on the table. "Why don't you take a look at all the photos."

Oliver and I exchanged a look before I reached for the folder. I pushed away the photos of Killian and myself and my hand froze.

There was a picture of Felicity getting out of the car when we dropped her off, a picture of us pulling away, and a picture of a man in a black mask grabbing her from behind.

"Oliver..." I warned.

He let go of Cooper and looked down at the photos. In that moment, his whole body changed. The color drained from his face and his fists clenched. Oliver turned to Cooper, grabbed him by the shirt again and yelled in his face.

"Where is she?! If you hurt her I swear to fuck I will kill you! Do you hear me?!" People started to form a circle as Killian and I tried to pull Oliver away from Cooper.

Cooper held his hands out and laughed.

"You touch me, and my friend over there," he motioned with his head toward the bar where Braydon stood on his phone. "Will give the go ahead for my friends to have a little fun with Felicity. And believe me, after they are done with her, they'll make it look like what I did was a walk through the park."

Oliver's grip on his shirt tightened. "Ollie..." I tried but he didn't budge. "Mate, let him go," Killian tried.

Oliver pressed his lips together and finally shoved him away. Cooper stumbled back but regained his stance just as bouncers walked up.

"Is there a problem here?" One of them asked.

The three of us remained quiet as Cooper buttoned his coat.

"No problem, gentleman. Was just catching up with some old friends."

The bouncers looked at us and raised their eyebrows. "Everyone keep their hands to themselves." Cooper nodded and they walked off. He turned back to us and his face was hard.

"Bring me the tablet you took to the address in the folder in two hours, or the next time you see Felicity it will be in a body bag."

Oliver tried to take a step forward but Killian held him back. He gave us one last twisted smile and walked out of the bar.

***

"Oliver wait!" I hollered after him as he stormed into his penthouse.

"This was a set up, this was all a fucking set up!" He growled and stomped down a hallway. "Ollie..." I tried again and he stopped to swing around to look at me and Killian.

"He knew, he fucking knew, Emma! He wanted us to set up the date! He's always one step ahead!" I held my hands up. "I know. We'll get her back!"

"I'm going to fucking kill him," he mumbled before he stormed into what looked like an office. "Oliver, we know where she is. They are at Palmer Tech. We're going to get her," I tried to explain.

Oliver went over to his desk and yanked a draw open. He pulled he gun from his side holster, hidden by his jacket, and checked the bullets. He slapped the barrel back in and pulled another gun out of the draw. I watched with wide eyes as he packed that gun before putting it on the desk and going over to a safe.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He kept his mouth shut and opened the safe. He grabbed the tablet and another gun as I walked over to him.

"Oliver, there is no need for all of these guns. I have mine, it won't come to a shoot out."

He checked the barrel of the gun and handed it to Killian. I watched in horror as he took the gun, checked the safety, then hid it in the back of his jeans.

"Stop! You don't need a gun! Oliver, he doesn't need a gun!" I cried out. Oliver grabbed extra bullets and tossed them to Killian who caught them. "Stop!" I turned to Killian. "Tell him!"

Killian looked at me with a locked jaw.

"He can't," Oliver finally spoke and I snapped my head back to him. "Yes, he can! Killian tell him!"

"Tell him what, love? Not to? Because if it was you I'd be doing the same thing," Killian answered softly. "No! This is crazy, Oliver we need a plan!" I pleaded.

"I have a plan," he mumbled.

He packed more bullets in his pocket and picked up the tablet.

"This is it, Emma. You know how he is. He's not just going to hand her over. I promised her, I promised her I would protect her!" Oliver yelled.

I put my hands up and took a step forward. "We all did, Ollie. He's not going to harm her before he gets that tablet. He obviously needs it for some reason. We need a plan!"

"There is no time!" He cried out.

"We have two hours. That's what he said. I know you want to go there now, I do too. But I'm asking you," I turned toward Killian. "Both of you, give me a half an hour. I'll come up with a plan and we will go get Felicity."

Oliver finally looked up at me. I pleaded with him with my eyes. He looked back at Killian for a second then back at me.

"You got a half an hour."

***

I grabbed my gun and put it in my holster as Killian and Oliver got out of the car. We stood out front of Palmer tech and looked through the main doors.

My jaw clenched as two armed men held the doors open for us as we approached. "The tablet?" One asked.

Oliver held it up for them to see. The other man tried to grab it and Oliver yanked it back. Killian took it and put it inside of his jacket.

"Where's my wife?" Oliver growled.

The men moved and motioned for us to go inside. They followed us with guns at our backs. I looked over at the welcome desk and saw two security guards on the ground. I let out a sigh of relief when I noticed that they were still breathing.

They walked us to an elevator and took us up to the sixth floor. The doors opened and we were escorted down the hall. When we reached Felicity's office, we looked through the glass wall to see her tied to a chair. She had tears in her eyes and her shoulders we hunched in fear with Cooper standing behind her.

"Felicity," Oliver breathed out and tried to go to her but stopped when Cooper held a gun to her head. "Check them." Cooper ordered.

I squeezed my eyes shut and lifted my arms as one of the men walked up to me. He patted me down and felt the gun in my holster. He grabbed it and threw it to the other side of the room. He moved down to my legs but stopped when Killian hissed.

"Get your bloody hands off of her!"

Killian tried to step to me but he was stopped by the other man.

"Don't move!" The second man yelled at Killian and shoved him in the shoulders.

The man who had been searching me stood up and I made eye contact with Killian. Because of his lash out, he had forgotten to check my left leg where I had another gun hidden.

Before the man turned to Oliver, he put his hand on my face and shoved me back. Killian growled and tried to move again but was stopped. We watched as Oliver was searched and had his two guns taken from him before the man moved to Killian and smirked at him.

"I'll remember that, mate," he hissed.

The man chuckled. "I'm sure you will, _mate_."

Killian clenched his jaw as he was searched. He took his gun and then patted his side. He moved to reach inside of his jacket but Killian jerked away.

"It's the tablet," he growled. "And you're not getting your hands on that." "Show it to me!" Cooper called out.

Then men stepped away from us and Killian pulled the tablet out. He held it up in the air. "You want it, you let my wife go," Oliver growled.

Cooper smiled and patted Felicity's head. "All in good time. Felicity is going to unlock this case for me and we can all be on our way."

One of the men who searched us walked over and picked up a suit case and placed it on the table in front of Felicity. She stared at it and shook her head.

Cooper yanked her head back by the pony tail and she cried out. Oliver growled and stepped forward but stopped when a gun was held up to him.

"Open the case, Felicity, or the first bullet goes in your husbands head!" She flinched and I saw Oliver shake his head.

Cooper huffed. "Grab the tablet!"

The second man walked over and yanked the tablet out of Killian's hand. We made eye contact and I took a step to the side.

"Open the fucking case, Felicity!" Cooper demanded. "I need my hands, jackass!" She yelled.

"Felicity, don't..." Oliver argued and the gun was moved closer to his head.

Cooper clenched his jaw and grabbed a knife from his pocket. He put the knife under the rope on her right wrist and cut it free. Cooper turned her chair toward the suit case.

"Do it!" He hissed.

Felicity reached forward with her hand and typed in a code on the keypad. The suit case locks popped open. Cooper smiled. He placed the knife on the table and leaned forward to grab it.

_Big mistake._

Felicity grabbed the knife and jammed it into Cooper's thigh. When he screamed out, she swiveled the chair and smacked the gun out of his hand. The man who held the gun to Oliver turned to look, as soon as his face was turned, Oliver smacked his hand down and yanked the gun out of his hand before he punched him out. I reached into my boot and pulled my gun. The second man lifted his to shoot Oliver, but I was faster. I pulled the trigger and he collapsed to the ground when the bullet pierced his leg. His gun fell and I ran up to get grab it before he could.

I looked back toward Felicity just in time to see Cooper wrestle the suit case out of her hand. He knelt to the ground and picked up his gun. I held my gun up to him.

"It's over, Cooper! Drop the suit case!" I yelled out.

He looked at us frantically before he lifted his left leg with a grunt and kicked Felicity's chair over. Oliver ran to her and I moved to follow Cooper.

A shot rang out and I jumped. I looked back to see one of the men on the ground clutching his arm behind me and Killian holding the gun he had hidden in his jacket.

"Told you I'd remember it," he growled before he walked up and punched him in the face. "Oliver, he has the chip!" Felicity cried out as he untied her.

I clenched my jaw and ran to follow Cooper. "Swan!" I heard Killian holler but I ignored him.

I followed the blood trail to an exit and ran down the steps. I heard the faint sound of footsteps behind me and Killian calling out to me, but I didn't care.

I had to get Cooper.

I ran out into the parking garage just in time to see Cooper driving away in the van. "Emma!" Killian called out.

I made my way over to a car and tried the door.

Locked.

Killian ran up to me just as I broke the window with my gun. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?!" He growled. I opened the door and got in.

"He has the chip. We can't let him get away, it'll never stop," I explained as I hot wired the car.

Killian growled and ran over to the passenger seat just as the car roared to life. He barely had the door shut before I spun wheels out of the parking garage.

We caught up to Cooper on the main road. I sped in between traffic and followed him as he turned down a dark road.

"Swan..." Killian warned.

"He'll never stop!" I cried out. "Felicity will figure out a way to deactivate the chip and he'll be back."

I shifted gears and pressed my foot down on the gas. I tapped his bumper and Killian grabbed the handle on the ceiling. I jerked the wheel to the right and sped the car up to pull along side of the van. I looked over to see Cooper staring at us. He yanked the wheel and bumped the side of the car. My wheel jerked but I put it back in place. I switched the gear and moved the car over to bump the van. I saw from the corner of my eye as he struggled but finally straightened the car back out. He reached his hand out and I saw his gun.

"Duck!" I yelled.

Killian looked toward Cooper and I slowed down just as he started to shoot. "Fuck, Emma! Watch out!" Killian yelled.

I down shifted as one of the shots hit my headlight and pulled the car back behind the van. Shots were fired in all directions from the van quickly before they stopped. I smirked.

I shifted the gears and jerked the car over to drive next to him again. "Are you trying to get shot?!" He growled.

"He's out of bullets," I explained right before Cooper threw the spent gun out the window. I yanked the wheel hard and Killian grunted as the side of the car connected with the van.

Cooper slammed on his breaks and I drove forward. I turned the wheel and slammed on the breaks. The car turned until it was in the middle of the road and blocked the vans way to escape.

I jumped out of the car and drew my gun. I pulled the trigger twice and shot out the front tires of the van. I kept my gun drawn and walked up to the drivers side door. I yanked it open and Cooper looked at me with hate.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him out. Cooper fell to the ground with a grunt. "You fucking bitch!" He yelled as he tried to get to his knees.

Before I could do anything, Killian appeared and punched him in the face. Cooper spit out blood and shook his head. I held the gun to his head.

Cooper chuckled and spit blood out again. "Can't take care of yourself, Emma?" "Oh, I can," I stated as put my gun away.

Killian grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him into his feet. He groaned in pain from his knife wound and when he stood up completely, I walked up and kneed him in the groin.

"He just doesn't like it when pieces of shit speak to me that way."

Cooper grunted and fell forward. The only reason he stayed up was because of the hold Killian had on his left arm.

"That's for Felicity, you should have stayed away."

Cooper laughed through his pain and glared at me. "You think you're such a bad ass now, don't you? Don't forget who put your face through that brick wall."

Before I could react, Killian growled, yanked Cooper's arms back and slammed his head onto the hood of the van. When he lifted his head, blood flowed down from his nose.

"I should kill you for what you did to her," Killian growled.

Cooper broke his right arm free and pulled it back toward Killian. But before he could make contact, I grabbed his hand, yanked his wrist back until there was a crack and he screamed out in pain. Killian let him fall to the ground and Cooper cradled his broken wrist.

When he started to laugh again, I growled and took a step forward. "If you're laughing, you're not in enough pain."

I was stopped by Killian's arm. "Swan, we've done enough."

"I haven't even come close to enough, he deserves so much more," I hissed.

He clenched his jaw and nodded. "Aye, he does. But this isn't you and this isn't me anymore." I looked back down at Cooper. "He took her. He deserves to pay."

"Emma, listen to your words," he pleaded and I finally looked up at him.

Killian's face was full of anguish. It was then I realized he didn't just let him fall, he stepped back because he saw himself starting to lose control.

I blinked and looked back down at Cooper who had stopped laughing because he passed out from his pain. He laid on the ground, his forehead was covered in blood and his wrist was broken.

_This is wrong._

I let out a stuttering breath and looked back up at Killian. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head and pulled me into his arms. "Shh, it's okay, love. It was both of us." I held onto him tightly and squeezed my eyes shut.

"But you stopped, I wasn't going to."

Killian pulled back and looked at me. "I stopped for you, because of what you taught me. I shouldn't have let it gone that far. You're right, justice for him is the brig."

In the distance we heard a car pull up and two doors open and close. "Emma?! Killian?!" Oliver's voice called out.

Oliver appeared from behind the van with his gun drawn and Felicity behind him. He let out a sigh of relief and holstered his gun.

"What happened?" He asked as he walked up and saw Cooper on the ground.

My eyes went back down to the man on the ground before I looked up at my friends. "It's over."


	15. Chapter 15

I rolled over onto my back and let out a sigh. The clock on the bedside table told me it was just after three in the morning and I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep. I looked over at Killian and studied his face as he slept. He looked so young, so care free, no one would have ever guessed he was a pirate who was a couple hundred years old that struggled with darkness inside of him on a daily basis. I ran my fingers over the arm around my waist.

Killian thought he was a bad man, he thought he wasn't worthy to be called a hero, and that I saved him. But the truth was that he had saved me that night. If he hadn't snapped out it when he did and stopped me, I would have killed Cooper. A shiver ran down my spine and I decided I needed to move.

With carefulness, I lifted his arm off of my waist and gently got out of bed. The wooden floor in the hallway was cold on my bare feet and I rubbed my arms against the chill. The living room was dark except for the moonlight but I didn't mind. I grabbed the quilt off of the back of the couch and wrapped it around my arms before I sat down on the bench underneath the window.

I turned my head and stared out into the night.

After Oliver and Felicity had shown up, Oliver called his friend in the NYPD to come arrest Cooper. When the cop showed up I was prepared to be arrested. Just because Oliver was allowed to obtain him with the help of a team, it didn't mean we were allowed to beat him to a bloody pulp.

Killian and I could have been arrested for assault. We should have been arrested for assault, but Oliver cashed in a few favors and the officer wrote it down as resisting arrest.

We all went back to Palmer Tech and watched as the men that helped Cooper were taken away in an ambulance. Oliver returned the car I had stolen and Felicity had promised to have the company pay for the damages.

I tried to thank them but I couldn't speak then. Killian pulled Oliver to the side, spoke to him and we left. When we got back to the apartment, we didn't speak. He just took me into the bathroom and started the shower. I sat there as he undressed us and put us under the running water.

Killian washed us both while I stood there unable to speak. When we were done, he dried me, dressed me, brushed my hair, and put me in bed. He held me close and ran his hand through my hair until he finally dozed off.

Never in my life had I had someone take care of me the way Killian had and it should have made me feel better. But it only made me feel worse.

Killian's face when he had realized what he had done went through my mind.

It was a look of anguish and pain. He fought the darkness inside of him and because of me, he almost gave into it. Because I had let him do those things, I hadn't argued or stopped him. I stood next to him and watched with no question.

And he was the one that had taken care of me when we got back. Another shiver went through me and I pulled the quilt tighter.

I was supposed to be the savior.

Guilt should have been running through me over what happened to Cooper, but it wasn't.

I had no idea what that meant and my mind wouldn't stop spinning enough for me to try and figure it out.

"Hey."

I looked over to see Killian walk in from the hallway. His hair was flattened against his head, his eyes were squinted, his face had creases from the pillow, and he was dressed only in his boxers. I fought a smile. I had always suspected that the pajama pants were too much clothing for him to wear at night, that he had only worn them to be moderate, and I had been right. Ever since we slept together, I hadn't seen the pajama pants once.

"Hey," I whispered back. "Sorry if I woke you." He shook his head and kissed my forehead. "What's on your mind, love?"

I hummed and gave a little nod. "That's a difficult question to answer."

Killian reached forward and took my hand in his before he knelt down beside me.

"Must be if it takes you away from a bed that has a dashing pirate in it," he joked and I smiled for the first time that night.

I lifted his hand and kissed his fingers. I leaned my head back against the wall and Killian rubbed my hand with his thumb.

"Talk to me, love."

"I could have killed him, I wanted to kill him," I whispered. "But you didn't..."

"No. I just broke his wrist and let you beat him without saying anything. I'm supposed to be helping you fight the darkness, not give into it."

His brow went together. "You do help me."

"Not tonight, and I don't blame you for what you did. I know part of you did it because you wanted to, but I also know part of you did it so I wouldn't. That isn't helping, Killian. I'm supposed to be the savior, how can I be a savior when all I wanted tonight was to see him end. How can I help you over come the darkness when I can't even help myself?"

Killian shook his head and opened his mouth but I cut him off.

"I should feel guilty for what we did to him. A hero is supposed to feel guilty, but I don't. Even now, I don't feel guilty. What does that say? I've felt guilty about Cora, about Pan, even about Gold and they've killed people! But I don't feel guilty over someone who hacked some computers..."

"Emma," Killian started as he reached up with his left hand put it on the top of my head. "It says that you are human. That you have real feelings and real emotions."

I tried to speak but he stopped me.

"This was a man from your past that hurt you, hurt people you cared about, and you haven't dealt with those feelings in years. Of course it's easy for you to not feel guilty about what we did to him, because every feeling you've had toward him has been hatred. You've felt guilty for the others because you saw parts of them that were good at one time, you've never seen that with Cooper."

He started to rub my forehead.

"We both know that being a hero isn't black and white. If it was, Regina would still being trying to kill your mother and I would have continued on my quest for vengeance against the crocodile. But we aren't, because you saw the good in us and brought it out. I know what it feels like to harbor hatred for someone for years, the moment that you see that person, it all comes out. I did what was necessary tonight so that you didn't have to, and yes, because I wanted to. You think I didn't want to kill him when he spoke of hurting you? That I shot that man because it was the only choice? I could have tackled him, knocked the gun away. I did it because he put his hands on you. Aye, I could have killed him, but I chose the arm, because even though I didn't want to cross that line, I wanted to inflict pain. Things aren't that simple, Emma. We act on our emotions and sometimes they aren't always the best choices, but we deal with it and move on."

I looked down at our joined hands.

"You aren't the savior because you always choose good. You're the savior because you see both sides of everything and make the hard decisions when others can't. And because you're out here, in the middle of the night, because you think it's wrong that you don't feel guilty. But love, you're not realizing that If you truly didn't feel guilty, you'd be asleep with no worries."

I looked up at him and he gave me a small smile.

"It's okay to feel guilty, Emma, and it's okay to not feel guilty. That doesn't make you a bad person, it just makes you human."

I let out a sigh and leaned my head into his touch. "How did you become so smart?" I asked with a smile. Killian scrunched his eyes together and looked up.

"Well, it all started with this princess who yelled at me a lot when we first met." I laughed and smacked him in the arm which caused him to chuckle.

"Don't worry about me, love. Not giving into the darkness is a struggle, but not as much as before. I didn't have anything to live for back then. Now I have you, and it's what has kept me on my path. We may over indulge, we are alike in that way, but we have each other to keep us grounded. Tonight, it was me helping you, next time it'll be you helping me."

My face broke out in a smile before I leaned forward. He met me half way and we shared a kiss.

"Thank you," I whispered against his lips.

He reached up and cupped my jaw. "I love you, Emma." I kissed him.

"I love you, too."

He let out a breath, gave me a kiss on he forehead and stood.

"Will you come back to bed, then? It seems I've developed this nasty habit of not being able to sleep when you're not there."

I smiled and nodded. "Hmm. Is that a habit we should try and break?" He smirked. "Never."

***

When I walked out of the bedroom the next morning, I was greeted to an entire spread of bagels, cream cheese, and fruit.

"What's all this?" I asked with a smile. Killian smiled at me.

"Good morning, love." I walked up to him and lifted up on my toes to give him a kiss. "This is breakfast, curtesy of that little shop down the road. I ran down there earlier, the old man was none to pleased to see me waiting when he unlocked the doors, but I wanted them fresh."

I walked over to the table, picked a grape and popped it into my mouth. "Well, I appreciate... Is that chocolate sauce?" I asked with a gasp.

"I'm told chocolate cures most ailments for women... and that chocolate dipped fruit is pretty tasty. How are you feeling?"

Not wanting to talk about the night before, I put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down for another quick peck to distract him.

"Mm, I love you."

He smiled against my lips before he pulled away and raised his eyebrow to me. "Nice try."

I chuckled and he motioned toward the food. "I spoke to Oliver," he started.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a bagel. "Of course you did." Killian poked my side and I giggled.

"He's asked us to dinner tonight. Said Felicity talked about making her stuffed peppers." I groaned as I licked the excess cream cheese off of my knife.

"Oh my god, she makes the best stuffed peppers I have ever had in my life. Stuffed peppers are..."

Killian chuckled. "I'm aware of what stuffed peppers are, love. Although I don't believe they are made with goat meat here."

I scrunched up my nose and shook my head. We ate breakfast as we discussed our journey back to Storybrooke.

"I don't think there is much here I need to bring home. Maybe some clothes, defiantly some of things Henry made in school. I have this painting he did in art class of an apple tree that I know Regina would love."

"Don't forget his comics he asked for," he said before he took a sip of his coffee. I nodded and popped another grape in my mouth.

"Other than that, nothing else really matters. The lease is up in September, they can do whatever they want with the furniture and appliances."

Killian put his cup down and rubbed his hands on his pants.

"Ugh, maybe we should think about keeping the furniture and appliances. Maybe come back with your fathers truck and pack some things?"

I tilted my head. "Why? It's not like we need any of it, and where would we put it? Can't squeeze it all in the loft."

He let out a nervous chuckle and reached up to rub his ear. "Aye. But it might come in handy in... in other places."

I gave him a skeptical look before he wiped his lips and pulled out his phone. He tapped it a couple times before he put it on the table and slid it to me.

On the screen was a picture of a house with a white picket fence. "What's this?" I asked as I picked up the phone.

"Ugh," he let out another nervous chuckle. "It's an idea. An idea that I had, that Henry has been helping me with..."

I raised my eyebrow and he rolled his eyes.

"He called it Operation Viper. It's a house... in Storybrooke, and I thought... Well, I mean, I can't stay at Granny's forever. I found this place a little bit ago..."

He trailed off when my eyes went wide.

After a couple seconds of silence, he cleared his throat and continued. "I thought you might want to take a look at it when we got back... maybe... Ugh, if you liked it... you could, we could... thought maybe you'd want to take the plunge and move in with me."

My mouth dropped open. It had been amazing being with Killian the last couple days in our own space, to not have to worry about anyone interrupting us or walking in on us. But to move in together? My heart started to pick up, but I wasn't sure if it was due to excitement or panic.

"Henry helped with this?"

"Aye. He took that photo two days ago when he went to get the keys and sent it to me."

He was nervous, I could tell he was. I sat back in my chair and looked at the photo. The house did look beautiful, and I knew exactly where it was. Elsa and I had explored it when we had been on a search for the Snow Queen. I remembered looking out the window and seeing the view of the ocean and thinking how much Killian would have loved it.

"It's big," I commented, my eyes still on the photo.

"It's a four bedroom, so Henry could have his own room."

He had really thought this through. I looked back at him to see his thumb tapping against his coffee mug and his jaw muscles move.

Visions of waking up next to him every morning in that house filled my head. We'd wake up and get ready for our day together, then go home and have dinner while we talked about our day.

It was beautiful. _Wait, did he say keys? _My head snapped up. "Did you say keys?"

He swallowed and nodded.

"You bought it?" I asked in shock and he scratched the back of his head. Killian bought a house.

No.

Killian bought a house for us. No.

Killian bought me a house.

I waited for the panic, but it never came. "You bought me a house?" It was a whisper.

He looked at me with a frightened face and nodded slowly. "You bought me a house?" I gasped and sat up.

"Aye."

I looked at the phone then back up at Killian. I put the phone down and stood up. "You bought me a house?!" He nodded.

I walked up to him and crawled into his lap.

"You bought me a house!" I cried out in excitement.

Killian chuckled and I kissed his lips. "I can't believe you bought me a house!"

We both laughed as we kissed.

"Killian it's beautiful! Wow! Can we move in right away?"

He grinned and wrapped his arms around me. "We can move in whenever you want, love."

I picked the phone back up and settled into his lap. "Is this the only picture?! Did he take anymore?"

Killian chuckled. "That's the only one. I told him not to get his hopes up, because I wasn't sure, but that no matter what he could have a room."

I yanked his face and kissed him. Not only did Killian buy a home for me, he made sure that my son had his own space in it. I moaned against his lips and tossed the phone on the table.

"Take me to the bedroom, Captain. I have some appreciation to show."

Killian stood and held me bridal style. I giggled as he took a step forward, but I told him to stop and he looked at me confused.

I motioned with my head to the table. "Let me grab the chocolate sauce."

He raised his eyebrow and gave me a sexy smirk before I reached over and grabbed what I wanted. We both laughed all the way into the bedroom.

***

I hopped on the bed with a plate of fruit and sat crossed leg. I placed the plate on the bed and pushed the sleeve of Killian's shirt up on my arm before I took a strawberry.

"What's your favorite fruit?"

Killian sat back against the headboard with his hands behind his head and a smile on his face. "I'm partial to cantaloupe myself," he answered.

I grabbed a piece and fed it to him.

"I can't decide. Some days it's strawberries, others it's grapes. I don't like to make a permanent decision. It's too much of a commitment."

Killian snorted. "Commitment, love?"

I nodded and chewed on a piece of kiwi. "Mmhm. If I commit to one, I can't have the rest." "Luckily you don't feel that way about other things," he said with a smirk and a wink.

I fed him another piece of cantaloupe and gave him a kiss when the door bell rang. We pulled apart and shared a look of confusion.

"Are we expecting someone?" Killian asked. "Ugh, no. It's probably just Ollie or Felicity."

I got up off of the bed, but before I could walk away, Killian grabbed my arm. "You aren't planning on answering the door like that are you?"

I looked down at myself. "Um, yes?"

His jaw clenched and pulled up the shirt, his shirt, that I was wearing. He looked back up at me with a pointed glare.

"You're not even wearing any knickers." I blushed.

_They are around here somewhere._

There was another knock and Killian stood. He picked up his discarded jeans and put them on. He lifted his eyebrow and pointed to my discarded shorts after he zipped up and I rolled my eyes.

I walked over to the dresser and grabbed a new pair of underwear before I put my shorts on.

When I walked out of the bedroom, nothing in a million years could have prepared me for the person I saw in the dining room next to Killian.

"Robin?!"


	16. Chapter 16

Robin Hood stood in my dining room next to Killian and I couldn't believe it. "Hello, Emma."

I shook my head and walked up to him.

"Oh my god!" I gasped out before I pulled him in for hug. "How are you? It's so good to see you!" Robin smiled and returned my hug. "You too."

"What are you doing here? Can I get you anything, something to drink?" I asked him as I motioned to the table.

Robin shook his head. "No, thank you."

He took a seat as Killian and I exchanged a look. He motioned to the bedroom and I nodded. "You look good, Robin. New York suits you," I said as I took a seat.

Robin smiled. "Thank you, Emma. I'm sorry to intrude like this, but I called Henry and he told me that you and Hook were here."

Killian emerged from the bedroom wearing a black henley and joined us at the table. Robin motioned toward his hand.

"I see I've missed some things back in Storybrooke."

Killian gave him a small smile and shrugged. "The Queen was kind enough to return it to me." Robin sat up.

"Regina?" I gave him a small smile. "How is she?"

I opened my mouth but he shook his head. "No, I shouldn't have asked. Please don't."

We all sat in silence before Killian cleared his throat. "What's going on, mate? Everything okay?" Robin sighed. "I'm here about The Dark One."

Killian tensed and my mouth fell open. "Gold? He's here?"

Robin nodded.

"In New York?" Killian asked, but we both already knew the answer.

His fist clenched and I could tell he was about to explode. I reached over and put my hand on his arm. "He came to the apartment right after we got to New York..."

"He..." I looked over at Killian who stared at my hand on his arm. "He did some bad stuff and Belle banished him."

"He's in the hospital," Robin responded. "The doctors say it was a heart attack." I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Any idea what he has planned?"

Robin shook his head. "He asked me to acquire a potion from some kind of.. Furniture store..." I sat up. "What?"

"It was called The Wizard of Oak. Said the wicked witch had one of her..." I shook my head and stood up to pace.

"Swan?"

"That's Walsh's old store."

Killian's jaw clenched and Robin looked confused. "Walsh?"

I shook my head and put my hands on the back of my chair. "It doesn't matter. Did you get the potion?" "Yes, I delivered it in exchange he left me and my family alone."

I pressed my lips together and stood up. "Let me get dressed. Robin I'd like you to take me to see Gold." Killian shot up. "Emma..."

I put my hand up. "I have to see what he has planned and I think you should stay here." "That's not bloody..."

"Yes, it is. Gold is just a man here, Killian, and he's in a hospital. There's nothing he can do to me and I don't need you getting arrested."

He ran his hand through his hair and I turned back to Robin. "Give me a few minutes."

***

Robin and I rode the elevator in silence. It hadn't been easy leaving Killian in the apartment alone, he grumbled the entire time and I knew once I got back he would be pretty pissed, but I knew it was the best thing.

"He's just down the hall," Robin said as we stepped off.

We walked down the hallway and when I finally entered the room, it felt like I was entering a twilight zone.

Gold was in the bed, his eyes were closed, he had wires hooked up to him, he looked weak and fragile and... like a man.

He looked like a regular man.

He looked nothing like the feared Dark One he was back in the Enchanted Forest. "Jesus," I whispered.

Robin nodded. "It's a sight to take in."

Gold's eyes began to flicker before he finally opened them. His stare turned cold when he saw Robin, but then he turned to me and they changed to shock.

"How are you here?" He hissed. "Does it matter?"

Gold tried to sit up but stopped. "If you're here there's a way back! Tell me! Take me!" "There is no way back, Gold. You know that," I growled.

He looked at me shocked. "No, you wouldn't be here if there wasn't." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Of course," he hoarse voice started. "You're the savior. The Snow Queen wanted you to be able to go back, nobody else."

I kept my mouth shut. He didn't need to know the truth. "Come to gloat, Miss. Swan?"

I crossed my arms. "What's your plan, Gold?"

He coughed. "Well, as you can see, my plan is to die." Both Robin and I looked at him.

"Die?" Robin asked in shock. "What about the potion I acquired for you?"

Gold chuckled and stared off. "It wasn't the potion, it seems that Walsh had used the last of the potion on Miss. Swan."

"What?" I demanded.

Gold shook his head. "You sure do know how to pick them, dearie." I walked up to the hospital bed. "What did he use on me?"

"You want to know that, we'll have to make a deal."

I huffed and shook my head. "The time for making deals is over, Gold. Robin, let's go, he's got nothing for us."

Robin and I stood to leave but stopped when Gold spoke.

"I have two secrets left to tell, and one includes your precious wife, dearie."

We both stopped walking and Robin stormed over to the bed. I caught his arm before he could get any closer.

"Hey, Robin, relax he's lying."

Gold chuckled. "You'd like to think that wouldn't you, Miss. Swan." I clenched my jaw. Robin looked back at me.

"Emma..."

I nodded and pulled him back before I took a step toward the man in the bed. "What do you want?"

***

"Robin, you need to calm down!" "I can't!" He cried.

Robin pushed his way to the parking lot and I had to rush to keep up with him. When I did, I grabbed him by the arm and forced him to look at me.

"Robin, stop. Roland is safe! If she really is Zelena, she's doing this to get back at Regina. And she's not going to do anything to risk us knowing that."

He ran a hand through his hair and nodded.

"Come on, I'll call Hook. We'll get him, then go to your apartment and get Roland, okay?" I grabbed my phone as we got into the car. It rang twice before he answered.

"Swan? What's wrong?"

"I need you to meet us outside of the apartment in ten minutes. We're picking you up..." I turned out into traffic.

"Did something happen? What did the bloody crocodile do this time?"

I clenched my jaw. I had to tell him, I knew I did, but it wasn't the time. "Killian, please, I'll explain it all, I just need you to trust me right now." He was silent for a moment.

"I'll meet you outside."

The ride back to my apartment took a little longer than intended and when we pulled up, Killian was already waiting outside.

When he got into the back of the car, I pulled out into traffic so quick, I saw Robin grab the door for support.

"What's going on?" Killian asked and I sighed.

"Gold told us that Marian came to visit him earlier." "Your wife went to visit the Dark One?"

Robin squeezed his eyes closed in pain. "He says she's not Marian. She's... Zelena." "The Wicked Witch?!" Killian growled.

We explained to him what Gold told us and he was silent. When I looked in the review mirror I saw as he clenched his jaw in anger. It wasn't exactly how we pictured spending our day, but things rarely ever did go as planned.

The ride to Robin's new, Neal's apartment, was a short one. I had forgotten how close I lived to it mostly because I had forgotten that it existed in my lost year.

I parked the car and reached over to the glove box to grab my gun. I checked the ammo and got out of the car. As I rounded the back, I saw Killian pull his cutlass from the trunk.

"What's the plan?" Killian asked as we rushed into the building. Robin unlocked the gate into the building and let us in.

"Gold said she's using a necklace to help with the glamour. If it's true, when she takes it off, she'll turn back to Zelena. Then we'll grab Roland and leave. There isn't much she can do in this world, there is no magic, she'll be helpless."

We moved toward the elevator, but I was stopped by Killian.

"And the crocodile just handed this information over to you?" He asked me in disbelief. The piece of paper in my pocket felt heavy and I struggled with my words.

Killian's eyes went wide.

"You didn't," he gasped in horror. "Swan, please tell me you didn't make a deal with the Dark One!" I placed my hand on his jaw. "Trust me, please."

We heard the elevator door open and it didn't give him a chance to respond. I could tell he wasn't happy, but I had to do something.

Robin was a wreck and needed to know what was going on with his wife, and Gold refused to speak a word until a deal was made.

I ignored the flutter in my stomach as we approached the apartment as I remembered the last time I was there.

Neal...

I shook my head and kept my hand on the gun on my hip as Robin opened the door.

"You're back! Oh... Emma, Killian? Wha... How are you two? It's so good to see you," Marian said with a shocked look.

She took a step forward but stopped when her eyes spotted the cutlass in Killian's hand. "Where's Roland?" Robin demanded.

"He's taking a nap. Robin... What's going on?" She asked in a worried tone.

Robin stomped over to her and reached out for her necklace. Marian took a step back and put her hand up to block it.

"What are you doing??" She cried out.

In that moment, I knew, I knew what Gold had told us was true.

"Killian," he looked over at me. "Go into the room, grab Roland and take him down to the car." He passed the cutlass to Robin and moved to the bedroom.

"What is going on here? Robin, why are they taking Roland?"

Killian walked back into the room with Roland on his chest and the boys sleeping head on his shoulder. He gave me look and I knew what he was trying to say.

_Be safe._

I gave him a slight nod before he walked out. Marian tried to step forward but Robin stopped her. "Stop it! Give me the necklace!" He cried out.

My heart broke because I could hear the pain of betrayal in his voice. "Robin you're acting crazy! What is going on here?!"

I watched as he struggled with himself and his body started to sag. He wasn't going to be able to force her. Robin was a good man, a man of honor, and there wasn't anything that could force him to do it if there was the slightest chance that this was actually his wife.

So I grabbed my gun off of my hip and pushed past the old thief. Before she could react, I reached up and yanked the necklace off of her. Marian's eyes went wide in horror before she morphed back in Zelena.

My hand went up and I pointed my gun at her. "Robin, go pack what you need."

He stood there and stared at her in horror. When he didn't move, I turned back to him. "Robin!" He looked at me. "Go pack."

He nodded and moved to the other room.

I turned back to Zelena to see her staring at me with a smirk. "You think this is funny?"

She laughed and nodded her head.

"I really do. And it was all worth it, I can't wait to see the look on my dear old sisters face when she finds out the news."

"You won't."

Zelena looked at me in shock. "What do you mean?"

I took a step forward, my gun was still pointed at her.

"You're not coming back to Storybrooke, Zelena. You're staying here, in New York." She shook her head. "You can't do that."

"I can, and I will. There's no way I'm letting you back into my town after everything you've done. Learn to live on your own, Zelena, in a world without magic. Maybe it'll teach you a thing or two."

She took a step forward and I pressed the gun to her chest. "The Dark One will..."

"Gold's dead." Zelena stopped. "So whatever help you think you'll get, you won't." Robin walked back into the room with a duffle bag.

"You're not seriously just going to leave me here?!" She cried out in horror. Robin stomped over to her and I had to put my hand up to stop him.

"You deserve everything you get!" He hissed. "You'll stay here and stay away from my family!" "I'll find a way back!" She threatened.

I put my gun back on my hip. "Good luck, Storybrooke isn't on any maps, Zelena." Just as we closed the door there was a crash.

***

"You guys can take Henry's old room. There's a twin bed in there but that should be enough room for just the two of you. You can put him down in there until he wakes up."

Robin nodded and walked to the bedroom. I sighed and took my jacket off. As Killian walked into the kitchen. I watched as he picked up the bottle of rum along with a glass from the counter before he poured himself a drink.

"Looks like you kept yourself busy earlier," I mumbled.

"Well, when my girlfriend rushes out of here to see a monster instead of spending the day with me, it tends to make me want a drink."

I walked up to him. "It's been an... Interesting couple hours, Killian and all I really want to do right now is have you hold me, I don't want to fight..."

Killian stared at me for a half a second before he pulled into his arms. I snuggled my head into his neck as I prepared myself for what I was about to tell him.

He didn't ask any questions, he just held me and ran his hand through my hair. After about ten minutes, Killian finally broke.

"Swan..."

I looked up at Killian.

"Sit down, we have to talk," I whispered.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow before he did as I asked. I wasn't dumb enough to think he would be upset about the news of Gold's passing, but I also knew he wouldn't take it lightly. For hundreds of years his only purpose was to kill the Dark One, and though I knew revenge didn't matter to him anymore, he still struggled with his darkness and this wasn't going to be easy.

He was going to have an internal battle and it was one I wished I could save him from. I sat down on his lap and reached up to rub my thumb on his scar.

"I love you," I whispered to him. Killian's face went blank.

"You're scaring me, Emma," he whispered.

I gave him a small smile before I leaned in and kissed him, softly. He cupped my face and pulled me away from him.

"Emma..."

"Gold's dead."

He went stiff. He stared in my eyes and it was the first time in a long while I wasn't able to read his emotions. I couldn't tell how long we sat there, Killian's face was blank and he didn't move. I started to get scared and reached up to rub my hand over his face, but he grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

"Killian?"

"Dead?" He asked in a whisper and I nodded. "How?" I cleared my throat. "The doctors say heart failure."

His eyes went wide before he jumped up. I scrambled to my feet and watched as he paced back and forth.

"Heart failure?" He asked, confused.

I nodded. "It's when your heart gives out..."

Killian started to laugh uncontrollably. I stared at him in shock. He continued to laugh and I didn't recognize him. He quickly changed from the Killian I knew into the Captain I had first met.

"Heart failure?!" He asked in between laughs.

I nodded and took a step back. I knew who Gold was, I knew the terrible things he had done, but he was still a man, and he died. The Killian I knew wouldn't find humor in that. Especially after the talk we had just had the night before.

He noticed my hesitation and tried to reign in his laughter. "Come on, love. Do you not see the humor in this?"

Part of me had seen it. Gold had taken Milah's heart, and countless others, and crushed it, and he ended up dying in a world without magic because of heart failure. But it didn't mean that I felt humor in it.

He reached out for me and I took another step back. In that moment, his laughter stopped and I saw my Killian start to come back through.

"Emma..."

I shook my head. I knew it wouldn't be easy for him, I knew there were going to be things that he felt and would want to do that I wouldn't understand, but to watch his face change into something dark over news of a death, I hadn't been prepared for that.

Robin walked out of Henry's old room with Roland next to him, fully awake. "Emma!" The boy cried out before he ran up to me for a hug.

I knelt down and hugged him, but kept my eyes on Killian, who stood there in shame. When the little boy pulled away, he did the same thing to Killian. I wiped a stray tear from my eye and could feel his eyes on me as I turned to Robin.

"Everything okay?" Robin asked in a whisper and I nodded.

"Let me get you guys some lunch," I mumbled and went to the kitchen.

Any conversation Killian and I needed to have had to wait as I put some mac and cheese on the stove. He tried to talk to me in the kitchen but I blew him off. I knew he still struggled with his darkness, but to see him like that, after everything we had been through I'm the past twenty four hours, after the words he spoke to me the night before, it was something I almost couldn't handle.

It wasn't fair to him, me blowing him off, he had probably been worried sick about my reaction, but I had to.

I served all the men their lunch but refused to eat. My stomach was in knots and I doubted I would have been able to kept anything down.

They ate in silence until Roland spoke. "Papa, where's Mama?"

Robin went stiff and looked up at me. His face looked pained and his eyes looked exhausted.

"You and your Papa are going to go on a little vacation and Mama had to stay back at home, Roland," I explained in a soft voice.

Roland nodded and went back to his meal. Robin let out a sigh and thanked me. No one spoke again until Roland asked if there were any toys for him to play with.

"Ugh, no son, I'm sorry. I've forgotten your toys."

Roland's face fell and he looked back at his food. I looked at both Killian and Robin and noticed they almost looked the same. They had both lost something that night and both were struggling. It was then an idea formed. I stood up and they all looked up at me.

"Ill be right back," I told them before I walked into the bedroom.

I pulled my cell phone out from my pocket and dialed the number. "Hey Felicity..."


	17. Chapter 17

I finished washing the plate when a hand appeared in front of me to grab it. I looked over to see Killian standing there with a dish towel. I handed him the dish and moved back to the water.

We stood there in silence as I cleaned the dishes and he dried them. When we were finished he handed me the towel and I dried my hands.

"You were frightened." He whispered.

I shook my head. "You were just laughing..."

He reached out and put his hand on my arm and I sighed. "Let me explain," he started and I stopped him.

"Killian, you need to go figure out how you feel about this." He started to shake his head. "No. You do. And I know it's mixed emotions for you, that's why you're going out."

He looked at me confused before the front door to our apartment opened. "Hello?" Felicity called out.

We both turned to see Felicity walk in with Oliver and Thea behind her. "Aunt Emma, Uncle Killy!" Thea yelled out before she ran down the hallway.

The little girl wrapped her arms around both of our legs and squeezed. I patted her shoulder while Killian rubbed her head.

"Thea, I'd like to introduce you to someone."

I took her hand and lead her to the dining room where Robin and Roland sat.

"Thea, this is Robin," He gave her a smile and a little wave. "And this is Robin's son, Roland." Thea hid behind my leg and waved. "Roland and his daddy are going to be staying with me and Uncle Killian tonight and I thought you guys could play together."

Roland's eyes went wide. "Do you have toys?"

Thea nodded her head. "Mommy and Daddy let me bring some. I have barbies and pirate ships and swords, because I'm a princess!"

Roland looked over at his dad. "Papa can I play?"

Robin chuckled and nodded. "Of course, son."

"Why don't you guys go play in Henry's room while us grown ups talk?" I suggested as Thea ran and grabbed her bag of toys from her father.

The two children ran out of the room and we started the introductions. "Robin, these are my friends Oliver and his wife Felicity."

They shook hands and Ollie spoke up, "Heard you guys could use a drink?" Killian raised an eyebrow and Robin chuckled.

"As much as I do, I'm afraid Roland..."

"Don't worry about Roland," I started. "Felicity and I will stay here with the kids." "Emma, you've already done so much I couldn't possibly..." He started to protest.

"I'm insisting. Besides, you know Regina is going to freak out about this when we get back, so it's best you've already had your freak out moment."

He gave me a look of appreciation before he pulled me in for a hug. "Swan, a word?" I heard Killian ask.

I nodded and motioned toward the bedroom and he followed. I sat down on the edge of the bed while he leaned against the bedroom door.

"Are you pushing me away?" He asked in a whisper.

I shook my head. "No. I'm giving you a night out with some guys to drink and let out any frustrations you might have."

Killian ran his hand through his hair. "I don't have any frustrations."

"Killian, Gold is dead." His jaw locked. "There are feelings inside of you right now that you need to let out or you're going to explode. Ollie may not be able to know the whole truth, but he's one of the few people in the world that will not need an explanation as to why you're feeling a certain way. I can't help you with that, as much as I'd like to... But this, this I can do for you. Go out with Ollie and Robin, get drunk, and tonight when you get back, or tomorrow when you wake up, if you want to talk, I'll be right here waiting."

His eyes searched mine for any sign of doubt, but I showed him none. He finally pushed himself away from the door and stood in between my legs. His hands moved up to cup my face and his thumbs rubbed against my jaw.

"Last night you helped me with your words," I whispered. "I don't know the words to say to help. So let me give you this. I'm sorry I acted that way, it wasn't fair."

He shook his head and gave me a soft kiss on the lips.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and we held each other for a couple more minutes.

***

"My daddy is a king!" Thea said to Roland as she handed him a pirate ship.

"My papa is a thief, but he only steals from bad men," Roland explained. "Is your papa Robin Hood?"

Roland smiled. "Yes!"

Thea nodded her head, knowingly. "I thought so."

Felicity and I chuckled as we shook our heads and headed back out toward the living room. I went into the kitchen and poured us each a glass of wine. The guys had been gone for almost an hour and it seemed like we had nothing to worry about with the kids.

"Everything okay?" Felicity asked as I sat down on the couch.

Thea and Roland's laughter could be heard from inside of the bedroom as I handed her a glass of wine and sighed.

"It's complicated. But Robin and Regina were together, and then he had to leave... But the reason he had to leave is gone now. He just needs to stay here and he's going to come back with us tomorrow."

Felicity nodded. "His son is adorable. Thea is having such a great time."

"Thanks again for this. I know we all said we were supposed to have dinner, but Robin showed up and..."

She waved her hand. "It's fine. It gets Oliver out of my hair. He's been watching me like a hawk. I can barely go to the bathroom without him following me. I had to promise not to leave your side or the apartment to convince him to go out."

I snorted.

"But this will be good for him, too. Guy time, he'll be able to relax." I nodded. "It's much needed. How are you?"

Felicity sighed and leaned back against the couch.

"I'm good. I mean, I was kidnapped by my psycho ex, but I'm good. I was more scared for all of you. I knew he wouldn't hurt me because he needed my help, but I knew Oliver wouldn't believe that."

"Yeah, he was ready to go in guns a blazing. Killian was backing him which is even more scary. I had to talk both of them down to come up with a plan, but of course the plan didn't work."

She took a sip of her wine. "I saw the virus on the tablet. I'm so proud." I chuckled. "You taught me well. What's going to happen now?"

"Oh he has a list of felonies he's looking at. Lance is throwing everything at him. I'm going to work it so you guys don't even have to come back for the trial."

I rubbed my leg and stretched my arm out. "Yeah, we might be back soon for a day or so anyway." Felicity raised her eyebrow and I smiled. "Ugh, to take the furniture to our new place."

"What?!" She gasped in shock.

"Killian bought us a house. Apparently him and Henry have been working on it behind my back and he asked me to move in with him."

She slapped my arm in excitement. "Emma! Holy crow! He bought you a house?! And you're moving in??"

I nodded with a big smile. "I know. It's weird, I keep waiting for the panic to come, but it's just... not. After being here with him by ourselves, I want this back at home, I want our own space."

Felicity pulled me in for a hug. "I'm so happy for you, Emma! And when you're settled we're going to come visit!"

I swallowed and gave a tight nod. I knew that it probably wouldn't happen and it made me sad. But I also knew that I had to make more of an effort to visit them.

She groaned as we pulled apart.

"I can't believe you guys are leaving tomorrow! It's been so nice having you back, even if it was under crappy circumstances."

"I know, I'm going to miss you guys, but I swear, we'll keep in touch this time." Felicity held up her hand and stuck her pinky out. "Pinky promise?"

I rolled my eyes and hooked my pinky to hers. "Pinky promise."

"Besides," she started as she took another sip of her wine. "Could you imagine breaking up the bromance Killian and Oliver have made?"

"Oh, God, I know!" I gasped. "What is with that? You'd think they were the ones that have known each other for years."

"Killian is a good guy, and from the moment we met him we could tell how happy he made you. You're so different, Em. I'm so happy for you. "

I gave her a small smile.

"And it's so easy to see how he feels about you. He'd jump in front of a moving bus for you, which, Oliver as we all know has that same hero mentality, so it helps they are like."

I scrunched my face up. "Ugh, please don't tell me my boyfriend is like Ollie." Felicity giggled.

"We'll come by before you leave, just to see you off. What time are you guys leaving?" I shrugged. "I guess it all depends on what time they get back tonight."

We both laughed. "So, how was it?'

I snapped out of my thoughts and my brow went together in confusion. "How was what?"

Felicity snorted. "How was what? Please, the sex you and Killian obviously had! Hello, miss hickey!"

She poked my in the neck and I reached up in horror. I jumped up and ran to the mirror that was on the wall, and sure enough there was a dark mark on my neck.

I groaned. I had never had a hickey before and honestly never wanted one.

_Thank god its turtleneck season._

Felicity laughed as Roland and Thea ran into the room. "Mommy! Roland and I are hungry," Thea called out. "Yeah?"

Both of their heads nodded and Felicity and I exchanged a look. "Well, what do you think we should have for dinner?" I asked them. "PIZZA!" The both yelled as the jumped up and down.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled as I looked back at Felicity. She shrugged. "Guess we are ordering pizza."

***

At nine while we were checking on the kids, we started to get the photos and videos. Felicity's phone went off and she looked at it with her brow together.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes and showed me her phone screen.

It was a photo someone had taken for Oliver, he had his hands held up in heart shape and I couldn't help but snort.

"He does this when he's being extra clingy, I hope you're prepared, because I have a feeling it's only going to get worse."

"Was that Daddy?" Thea asked I'm excitement and Felicity nodded. "Can I take a picture for Daddy?" "Me too?!" Roland asked in excitement.

I had to keep myself from laughing because I was sure Roland had no idea what a picture was, he just fed off of Thea's excitement.

"Come here kids!"

Felicity went down on her knees as the kids ran up to her. "Want me to take it for you?" I asked with my hand out.

Felicity gave me a look, I sighed and knelt down beside her. She pulled Thea to her and I pulled Roland to me. I whispered in his ear and showed him where to look. We smiled and she took the picture.

When we left the kids to play, Oliver texted back his response to our photo.

# 'You girls are the best'

At ten, after the kids had finally went to bed, my phone went off. It was a video.

The video started and we both jumped at the loudness of the bar.

_"Em!" _Oliver's face showed in the video. _"Look at this son of a bitch!"_

The video switched around to show Killian standing there with a beer in one hand, a dart in the other, and he was laughing. I smiled at how carefree he looked.

_"Are you watching ya git? What the bloody hell are you doing with that?" "Make your shot!" _Robin yelled from behind the camera.

_"Go ahead, Jones," _Oliver chuckled.

Killian chuckled and turned to the dart board. He lined his shot up and tossed it. The video shook as Oliver and Robin jumped up when they saw his shot hit the bullseye. Felicity and I chuckled as the video was showed the floor for a couple seconds before Oliver picked it back up and filmed Killian again.

_"You ass!" _Oliver hollered at him between laughs.

Killian looked directly into the camera, lifted his one eyebrow, then wiggled them both as he pressed lips together. My heart fluttered and the video ended.

Felicity and I exchanged a look and shook our heads.

Forty five minutes after that, Oliver sent me another photo of Killian and Robin. They were sitting in a booth, lounged out on each side and both laughing. I almost spit my wine out when I read his captain.

# 'You can't sit here.'

It seemed the more drunk they got, the more the photos were sent. We got a picture of Oliver and Robin trying to build a shot glass tower, a selfie of Oliver with wide crazy eyes, one of Killian with his head in his hands, and a picture of Robin laughing.

I made a mental note to save that one for Regina.

The next one we received was a picture of the three of them. Someone had obviously taken it for them. Oliver was on the right, Robin was in the middle with his arm slung over Oliver's shoulder, and Killian was on the left. They were all laughing their asses off.

Felicity took a selfie of us, a close up of our faces with our wine glasses. Felicity opened her mouth while I bared my teeth and scrunched my face up.

Minutes later, we got a photo back of Oliver and Killian looking down at what I assumed was Oliver's phone. Killian's hand was up to his mouth but you could see his grin while Oliver smiled.

The captain said: **'What you girls do to us'**

The last photo that was sent to us was of the three of them with the captain:

# 'I love it when a plan comes together.'

"Are they smoking cigars?!" I gasped out in shock. Felicity shook her head. "Oliver is such a bad influence!"

She sat up and went into her phone. "That's it. We need to end this."

She brought up the FaceTime option and started her call to Oliver. The video connected and the sound was a lot quieter than I expected. "Felicity, my darling wife!" I heard Oliver call out and I chuckled.

"Husband, I am FaceTiming you to tell you to stop with photos! Have fun with the guys. Emma and I are alright here."

"What are you doing now?!" I heard Robin's voice. "Are you making another photo?" I winced at his words and hoped Felicity chalked it up to their drinking.

"Noooo, I'm talking to my wife! Say hello to Felicity!"

I took a sip of my wine and smiled as she spoke to Robin. "Roland is fine, he and Thea are sleeping in the other room." "Thank you, milady," Robin said and I saw Felicity flush a little. Yeah, gentleman tend to do that.

"Oyi! Tables free," Killian's voice rang out and I smiled. I actually missed him.

"Ah! Babe, we got to run, pool table is free. Hey, Jones! Felicity says we can't send photos anymore," Oliver yelled.

"I told you she would cut you off, mate," Killian's voice got clearer. Felicity and I both chuckled.

"What's this?"

I bit my lip at his adorable confusion as I got up to get another glass of wine.

"Hello, Killian. Will you please tell my husband to have fun and put his phone away? I'm actually putting you in charge of making sure he doesn't touch his phone at all unless it's an emergency."

I heard a shuffle as Killian and Oliver bickered. "Give it!"

"Jones!"

"Your wife says no! Now tell her you love her and go play billiards with Robin!" "Felicity! I love you!"

Felicity laughed and called out to me, "Your boyfriend is actually wrestling him for the phone!" I shook my head and put the wine bottle back.

"Emma? Is my Emma there?"

I blushed as I walked back into the living room.

"She sure is, here," she handed me the phone and gave me a pointed look. "Talk to your hunnie while I go to the bathroom."

I took the phone and sat down. When I saw Killian's face on the screen, I couldn't help but smile at his breathtaking grin.

"Hi, there."

"Ahoy, Princess. You're looking beautiful as ever."

I blushed. "Look at you doing your very first FaceTime." He chuckled and took a sip of his beer.

"Proud of me?" "Always."

A shy smile formed on his face.

"You should go back to the guys. Felicity may be small but she's scary. She says Oliver does the picture taking when he's distracted and clingy. You guys should all be having a good time, we're good here."

Killian nodded and wiped his mouth. "Aye, love. I'll do my best." I leaned my head on my hand. "How are you?"

"Fine. I miss you."

My smile widened, but I rolled my eyes at his cheesiness.

"I miss you, too." The look he rewarded me with was worth it. "Now go have fun. We have a long drive a head of us tomorrow."

He smirked. "I love you."

I bit my lip. "I love you, too. Bye." "Bye, love."

I ended the call and held the phone to my chest as my heart fluttered with happiness. Felicity plopped down on the couch which caused me to jump.

"I love you, too?!? You finally said it?? When did you say it??" She squealed in happiness. I chuckled, shook my head and handed her back her phone.

"It kind of slipped out after we ugh..."

Felicity started to laugh. "Only you, Emma! It must have been some good sex for you to spit that out!" I picked up a pillow and tossed it at her as she continued to laugh hysterically.

***

Felicity and I lifted our head and looked toward the hallway as we heard a scrape at the door followed by deep voices.

The clock read 2:53 and we both rolled our eyes. "Guess they are home," I mumbled.

Felicity stood. "I'm going to shut the door so they don't wake the kids."

I nodded and walked around the couch just in time to see Oliver stumble down the hall, with Killian and Robin behind him as they all laughed hysterically.

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself. "Hey, good looking!"

"Emma!"

"My love!"

They all called out at the same time and my eyes went wide in amusement. "Did you guys have a good time?"

Oliver stumbled over to me.

"The best... Em, sweetheart, where is my beautiful wife?"

"Right here, drunkie," Felicity said as she walked back into the room. Oliver's face lit up as he made his way over to her.

Before I could react I was almost tackled into the table by Killian. "Mmmmm, I've missed you, Princess," he breathed out.

"I can see that," I answered with a chuckle.

"You smell bloody amazing," he mumbled into my neck. "And you smell like you drank the whole bar," I said.

"Just about," Robin chuckled as he leaned against the island. "How is Roland?"

I patted Killian's head as he snuggled into my neck more and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"He's fine," I spoke to Robin. "He and Thea played knights and princesses all night. They are sleeping in Henry's room."

Killian started to rock us back and forth as his hands rubbed my back. Apparently he was a very cuddly drunk.

Robin put his hand to his chest and closed his eyes. He was quiet for a couple seconds and I was afraid he passed out. But he finally opened his eyes.

"Thank you, Emma."

I rubbed Killian's back and nodded. "Anytime. You might want to try the couch though, I doubt you'd want to wake him up."

He pointed at me and nodded. Robin pushed himself away from the island and patted Killian on the back. My pirate finally pulled away and I straightened my shirt as they spoke to each other. I watched in amusement because it seemed more like they were just grumbling than saying actual words.

"She's so precious, I love her so much, Felicity," I heard Oliver attempt to whisper.

"Yes, I know, babe. But please be quiet so that she doesn't wake up," Felicity said with a chuckle as she walked back into the room with Thea in her arms.

Oliver put his finger up to his lips and nodded. "Shhh."

I rolled my eyes when Killian and Robin did the same. Felicity and I exchanged an amused look before she leaned in a gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Call me tomorrow when you wake up, we'll come say goodbye." I nodded before I was almost tackled by Oliver.

_Christ, these boys are going to kill me._

"Em! My Em! You're leaving!"

I patted his back. "Yes, tomorrow."

He pulled back and saw that his eyes were as glassy as Robin and Killian's. "I'm coming to see you, you're not leaving without saying goodbye!"

I chuckled. "Okay, Ollie."

Oliver grabbed my face and gave me wet kiss on my forehead. I shook my head and wiped my forehead as he turned around and held his hands out.

"Men!" He hollered out before he pulled Robin and Killian in for a group hug.

They started to laugh as they hugged and I quickly pulled my phone out to take a picture.

_Drunk asses._

"Shh!" Felicity tried, but it was too late.

Thea lifted her head and rubbed her eyes. "Mommy?"

Felicity huffed in frustration and rubbed her daughters back. "It's okay, baby. We're going home, go back to sleep."

"Daddy?"

Oliver pulled away from Robin and Killian and smiled at his daughter.

"There's my little princess! Daddy missed you!" He stumbled over to his wife and daughter and rubbed his nose against his daughters cheek.

Robin gave me a pat on the shoulder and stumbled toward the couch before Killian wrapped his arms back around me and started to snuggle his face in my neck again and I sighed.

"You better hope she falls back asleep in the car, Queen." Oliver tickled Thea and she giggled.

"If she doesn't I'll stay up with her, babe."

Felicity snorted. "Sure you will. Em, I'll see you tomorrow. Good luck!" "Yeah you too!"

I moved to lock the door behind them but Killian held me tighter. "Ugh, okay, sweetie?"

"Mm?"

"I have to lock up and get some blankets for Robin."

I looked over to see that Robin had fallen face first into the couch and was snoring. I moved Killian over to the dining room table and unwrapped his arms from me. He pouted as I forced him to sit down.

"Stay here, I'll be right back."

He reached up and pulled me down for a sloppy kiss. "Mm, my Swan..." He slurred and I shook my head.

I walked to the door and made sure it was locked before I pulled out some extra blankets and a pillow from the closet.

Killian sat at the table with a goofy smile on his face and when I walked past he tried to grab me. I laughed. "I'll be right there."

When I had woken that morning, I did not expect my night to end with a drunken pirate and a drunken thief.

I lifted Robin's head and placed the pillow underneath before I dropped the blanket over his body. I quickly undid his boots and put them on the floor beside the couch as he let out a loud snore.

"Regina, you owe me big time," I mumbled to myself and walked back over to my pirate. He immediately wrapped his arms around me and snuggled his face in my stomach.

It took me about five minutes to get Killian into the bedroom. He refused to lift his face from my neck or let go of me and I almost tripped twice. When we finally made it, I flopped him down on the bed and shut the door.

"Did you have fun, captain?"

He smirked. "I love when you call me that."

I rolled my eyes and knelt down to untie his boots. "A lot of people call you captain."

"Yes. But when you," he poked my nose when I looked up. "Do it. It's so cute."

I tucked my hair behind my ears and stood up. "You are very drunk."

He reached into his coat and fumbled for a second before he pulled out his flask and waved it at me.

"One of the downsides of growing a tolerance to alcohol is that you have to drink twice as much to keep up, love."

I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips. "I haven't seen you this drunk since the Enchanted Forest."

His face went hard.

"That wasn't me and that bugger got to kiss you," he slurred out as he started to wrestle his jacket off.

A snort came out of me as I helped him. I threw the jacket on the chair and then lifted his shirt over his head.

"That was you, and just think, when you dared me to kiss you on Neverland, it wasn't the first time!" Killian's faced scrunched up. "It only counts when you remember it, love."

"Ah, because you would have went after me," I said with a smile. I moved to throw his shirt in the hamper and he stopped me.

"I would have. I would have searched every realm looking for you." I leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. "I know."

After I threw his shirt in the hamper I turned to find him laid back on the bed with his pants still on. "Want me to take these off?" I asked as I reached for his belt but he stopped me.

"Yes, but no." I raised my eyebrow and he looked at me. "I really just want to hold you, to feel you in my arms. But if you take my pants off I'll want to sink myself inside of you."

My cheeks heated up. "Maybe that's not such a good idea considering I'm pleasantly sore." Killian put his hands on his face and groaned. "Don't say things like that, Emma."

I chuckled and crawled into bed next to him. I laid on my back and Killian immediately wrapped his arms around me and snuggled into my chest.

"Thank you for tonight," he mumbled. I kissed his head.

"You were right," he spoke again. "Oliver didn't ask any questions, he just drank with us, and when we were silent he was silent with us. That's an incredible friend you have there, Swan."

"Your friend now, too," I told him. He squeezed me tighter.

"You're being very clingy tonight," I whispered with as I ran my hand through his hair.

He hummed as I massaged his scalp and I almost thought he had fallen asleep. "Robin told me what happened."

I moved my nose down to his hair and breathed him in. He always smelt like the sea with a hint of spice. Killian moved his head and looked up at me.

"That's all he wanted? For you to deliver a note to Belle?" I nodded.

He breathed out and I could smell the rum he had drunk. "And the monkey used a potion on you?"

I swallowed. Gold had told me that in order for Walsh to worm his way into my life, Zelena had given him a potion to give me to make it easier.

"Do you remember why he would have given it to you?"

I shook my head. "I don't remember anything. The only thing I remember is accepting his request for a date."

Killian's arms tightened around me as he snuggled back into my chest. "You'll figure it out, love."

I kissed the top of his head pulled him tighter to me.

_Hopefully._

***

I stood with my arms on the counter and watched the coffee as it brewed. It was a little after nine in the morning and I knew I had to wake the men up soon so that we could get moving. There wasn't much to do, my excitement at the thought of going home had me up when the sun rose and it was easy to move around the bedroom with as Killian slept his rum off.

I had all bags packed and sitting by the door so all we had to do was take the bags and go.

My thoughts were interrupted by a tiny voice that called out from Henry's room. I moved quickly so that Robin wouldn't wake and poked my head through the door.

"Hi, Roland."

The little boy rubbed his eye and looked at me. "Emma, is my papa here?"

I pushed the door and walked into the room. "He is. He's sleeping on the couch. What do you say we let your papa sleep for a little bit longer, I'll give you a bath and make you some breakfast. How does that sound?"

Roland stretched and nodded.

A half an hour later, Roland was bathed and dressed as he sat at the dining room table eating his eggs. Robin let out a loud snore and his son giggled.

"Papa is making funny noises."

I nodded my head and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. "Yes he is."

I pulled the Advil out of the cabinet and dumped two in my hand before I walked into the living room with the Advil, water and cup of coffee.

My eyes rolled as I caught sight of the thief on my couch. He had turned onto his back in the middle of the night and was using the pillow to block out the sunlight.

I put the water and the mug down on the coffee table before I leaned down and started to shake his arm.

"Robin... Robin, it's time to wake up."

He groaned before he pulled the pillow away from his face. I watched in amusement as he blinked and looked up at me. When he eyes finally registered where he was, they went wide and he sat up.

"Roland!"

"Hi, papa!" Roland called out, his mouth filled with eggs, and his legs kicked back on forth on the seat. Robin let out a sigh and gave him a small smile. "Hello, son."

He looked back at me and I smiled before I held my hand out to him. "How are you feeling?"

Robin groaned and ran his hand over his face before he accepted the pills. "Killian is the devil." I snorted and handed him the water bottle. "Really?"

He nodded and threw the pills in his mouth before he downed the water bottle in one gulp. I picked up the coffee mug and handed it to him.

He squinted up at me. "And you're an angel."

I chuckled and shook my head. "You might want to get in the shower before Killian wakes up and if you're up for it I'll cook you some eggs."

Robin rubbed his temple and nodded. "I should get Roland..."

I waved my hand at him. "I gave him a bath already. All you have to do is worry about yourself." He let out a sigh and dropped his hands to his lap. He looked up at me with gratitude.

"Emma, thank you so much, you've truly done more than you had to."

I crossed my arms nervously and forced a smile. I really hadn't done anything and I still had a lot to make up for.

I was the reason Zelena had the chance to do what she did to him and his son. If I had just listened to Killian and left Marian, Robin would have never had to leave Storybrooke and Roland wouldn't have lost his mother for a second time.

"Sausage or bacon?"

Robin stood and shook his head. "The coffee will do just fine for me. But I think I will take you up on the offer of a shower. I smell like a tavern."

I chuckled. "Yes, you do."

Robin walked by his son and gave him a kiss on the head before he entered the bathroom. I started to fold up the blanket and spoke to the little boy.

"Roland, make sure you eat all of your breakfast, okay?"

He nodded. "Regina says if I eat all my food I can grow up to be big and strong like Papa."

That brought a smile to my face and suddenly I had one more reason to be excited to get back home. I had a happy ending to deliver.

Later when Robin got out of the shower, I went into finally wake my pirate. He normally didn't get hangovers, but I knew if he had drank double of what Oliver and Robin had, he was going to feel a shitty when he woke up.

_Explains why he's sleeping so late._

I bit lip to keep from laughing when I saw him. He was on side and curled around my pillow. His hair was a mess and he looked younger than his actual age. Quickly, I took my phone out of my pocket and snapped a photo of him. He looked to carefree and peaceful, I had to.

_And he doesn't even snore when he's drunk._

I put my phone away and leaned over the bed.

"Time to wake up, handsome," I whispered in his ear before I placed a soft kiss there.

He groaned and turned his head toward me. I chuckled when he gave me a kiss and snuggled back into the pillow. I moved my arm to hold the water bottle in his face and he cracked his eye open. I rolled my eyes at the look he gave me, switched arms and put his flask in front instead.

Killian hummed and grasped my wrist instead of the flask and pulled me over him. I let out a squeal as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him.

"We have company in the other room."

"Mm," he answered with and put his face in my hair. "How are you feeling?"

Killian rubbed his right hand up and down my arm. "Right as reign, Princess."

I shook my head, gave him a soft kiss and got up off the bed. "Do you want some breakfast?"

Killian sat up and took the flask when I handed it to him. I tried to offer him the water and Advil but he waved them off. My eyes rolled and I tossed the Advil in trash and took a sip of the water.

"Maybe just some toast or a bagel, love."

I nodded. "Well, why don't you get in the shower and when you're done eating we'll head out." He jumped out of the bed and I envied his ability to drink so much and have no hangover. "Don't we have to pack?"

"I already did it while you and Robin slept the morning away." His face pouted. "Swan, you didn't have to do that."

My shoulders shrugged. "Don't worry, you guys can carry the bags down."

I went to walk out of the room when he stopped me and gave me a breathtaking kiss. His mouth was dry and I could taste the rum he had just drank as he reached up to cup my face. When we pulled away, we were both panting.

"What was that for?" I breathed out.

"For taking care of me," my brows went together in confusion. "Last night. You were right, it helped. Thank you, love."

My face went soft and I reached up to rub his scar with my thumb. No words were spoken, we just stood there, with our foreheads touching, and basked in our love.

***

I ran my hand over the island in the kitchen. The last time I had left that apartment, I was sure I'd return. But now I knew, I never would.

Vivid flashes of mornings with Henry appeared in my mind, along with evenings spent doing homework, and watching TV. Then new memories began, our first night there, with Oliver and Felicity. How we drank wine and laughed. The pictures we had taken that were on my phone, and lastly, of how in just a week how the apartment had opened up my relationship with Killian into something even more beautiful and fuller than it had been before.

The apartment that once was a reminder of a year that had been lost had changed into a reminder of a new beginning.

"You ready, love?"

I gave Killian a small smile and nodded before we walked out.


	18. Chapter 18

When Killian and I walked down to the car, we saw Oliver, Felicity and Thea standing there with Roland and Robin. I bit back a laugh at Oliver's sunglasses and water bottle.

Robin gave Felicity a kiss on the cheek and thanked her for watching Roland before he turned to Oliver and shook his hand.

"Thanks for last night. I'm glad to have met you."

Oliver smiled. "Me, too. We'll have to do it again, give me some time to practice my dart skills." Both men chuckled before Robin turned to put Roland into my bug.

"Jones," Oliver started with a smirk. "You're the devil."

Killian let out a laugh. "Yeah, that seems to be the term going around this morning."

Then men started their goodbyes and I turned to Felicity. She pulled me in for a hug and I had to squeeze my eyes shut.

"Please don't let this be like last time, Em. We couldn't bare it," she whispered.

I shook my head and held her tighter. "It won't, I promise. I couldn't bare it either."

We pulled back and she gave me a tear filled smile. "Thank you so much, for everything." I squeezed her hand. "Anytime."

"Oh!" She jumped. "Before I forget..."

My brow went together in confusion as she ran over to her car and pulled a bag out from the back seat. She handed it to me with a smirk.

"Look what I was able to order."

Felicity handed me the bag and I looked into it. My cheeks flushed red and my jaw dropped. "How?!" I asked in a whisper.

"You may be good at finding people, I'm good at finding things," she explained with a shrug.

I bit my lip and closed the bag as she gave me a wink. I shook my head and we turned to see Killian pull away from his hug with Oliver to kneel and hug Thea.

"Your Aunt Emma and I will come visit again, little princess. Make sure you practice your sword skills with your dad."

Thea nodded with a smile and my heart melted. For as scared as Killian was to be around kids, he sure was great with them.

The little girl turned and ran over to me as Felicity walked over to Killian. I chuckled as she hugged my legs.

"Bye Aunt Emma!"

"Goodbye, sweetheart. Be good for your mommy and daddy, okay?" "I promise!"

Felicity walked back over and picked up her daughter. She gave me one last smile before she took them to their car. After I put the bag in the trunk, I turned back around. I let out a sigh and put my hands in my back pockets and watched them get in.

I kept my eyes on them when I felt Oliver walk up next to me.

"Do I want to know what my wife had shipped to our house for you?" I squinted my eyes and shook my head. "Probably not."

He chuckled.

"That's a beautiful family you have there," I said with a smile. "Yeah, they are."

I smiled at the ground before I turned to look at him. Oliver leaned against the trunk of my car and took his sunglasses off.

"Can you imagine what we would have said if someone had told us this was going to be our lives ten years ago?" Oliver said with a chuckle.

I snorted and shook my head.

"Me married with a daughter and you, with a boyfriend you're about to move in with, living with your family and your son."

I looked up to see Killian and Robin talking at the front of the car. He looked back at me and gave me a smile. I returned it and looked back at Oliver.

"We probably would have had them arrested for a mental disorder," I answered and Oliver chuckled. "Thank you, Em. I couldn't have done this without you."

"Thank you for calling. I'm so glad you did," I told him.

He looked back over at his car with squinted eyes before he turned back to me. "Don't disappear again," he whispered.

I shook my head. "I won't. I promise. You guys are actually going to probably get sick of me with how much I'm going to stay in touch."

Oliver snorted. "Probably."

I gasped and lightly punched his arm. He laughed and shook his head. After a couple seconds he stood up straight and turned to me fully. We both raised our eyebrows before Oliver rolled his eyes and pulled me to him.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he squeezed me around the waist and lifted me up. I let out a watery laugh as my feet dangled in the air for a couple seconds before he put me back down.

We held each other for a couple more seconds and I couldn't help the tears that formed in my eyes. When we finally pulled apart, I sniffled and wiped away a stray tear.

"Be safe driving home."

I nodded with a smile. "We will."

Oliver leaned in and gave me a kiss on the forehead. When he pulled back he sniffled and put his sunglasses on to hide his glassy eyes before he walked back to his car.

"Hey!" I called out.

When he turned back to me I smirked. "I'll talk to you later, Ollie."

He smiled.

"I can't wait, gorgeous."

We gave each other a wave and he got into his car. I felt Killian approach from behind me and I leaned back against his chest. They beeped as they pulled away and I let out a sigh.

"Come on, love," he kissed the back of my head. "Let's go home."

***

"Emma... Emma, open your eyes, sweetheart."

I groaned and lifted my head to see us stopped on a road in the middle of no where.

Half way through the trip, Killian offered to take the wheel and I was grateful since apparently the lack of sleep caught up to me because I dozed off a half an hour after he started to drive.

"Did I sleep the whole time?"

Killian gave me a smile and motioned to the back seat. Robin had his head back and was sleeping while Roland looked at us with a smile.

"You're not the only one, love." I pouted. "I'm sorry."

He reached out and brushed a stray piece of hair from my face. "S'alright, love. Roland and I had plenty to talk about."

"Killian is going to take me sailing with him and Henry!" The little boy called out from the back seat. I chuckled. "I'm sure Regina will love that."

Roland's eyes went wide and he kicked his legs out in excitement. "Are we visiting Regina?!" Killian and I exchanged a look.

"Um, well..."

"That we are, lad," Killian said with a smile. He looked back at me and shrugged. "There's no point in lying to the boy, Swan."

I sighed and looked around as Roland bounced I'm the backseat. "Are we here?"

Killian nodded. "About twenty feet ahead."

My brow went together in confusion. "How can you tell?"

He gave me a smile, pointed out the window and up to the sky. "The stars, love."

I blushed and pulled the scroll out of my coat pocket. I couldn't tell if my hands shook because I was nervous the scroll wouldn't work or because of how excited I was to see my parents and Henry again. Killian and I looked at each other before I held the scroll up and unwrapped it.

"Any idea what the symbols mean?"

"Foggiest idea, love. Didn't Henry just open it and..."

I put the scroll down and Killian stopped talking when we saw the sign that hadn't been there a second ago.

'Welcome to StoryBrooke'

We smiled as Killian put the car in gear and started to drive. "Where to first?"

I checked my watch and spoke. "It's just about dinner time. When I called my parents earlier they said they were meeting Regina and Henry at Granny's for dinner so I guess there."

We pulled up to the diner about ten minutes later and the adrenaline pumped through me so fast my started to bounce. When I saw the actual town a big smile plastered my face.

I was home.

My hand went to the door handle when Killian stopped me.

"Ugh, Swan?" He motioned toward the back to the still sleeping man.

"Right. Would you mind waking him? Give me about five minutes before he comes in so I could give a quick explanation?"

He gave me a small smile before I leaned over and kissed him.

I practically jumped out of the car and ran into the diner. The bell rang over the door as I opened it and my eyes searched.

"Mom!"

At the back of the diner in a booth sat Henry, Regina, Mary Margaret with Neal in her arms and David. My face hurt from my big smile. Henry ran up to me and I pulled him into my arms when we met in the middle.

"Hey, kid," I moved my head to his hair and breathed him in. "I missed you."

Henry pulled back and smiled up at me. Sometimes it still took my breath away how much he looked like Neal. I cupped his face and kissed his forehead.

"I missed you, too. Where's Killian?" I smiled. "He's outside."

Henry hugged me again as I looked up to see the rest of them standing behind him.

When Henry moved I fought back tears, took a step forward, and held my arms out. "Mom, Dad."

Their smiles were beautiful as I wrapped my arms around both of them. My eyes closed as I felt my father cradle my head and my mother wrap her free arm around me.

"I missed you guys," I whispered. "We missed you, too." David said.

I pulled back and looked down at my little brother who was sleeping. I placed my hand on his arm before I leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Hey, buddy."

"How was your drive?" I heard my father ask.

"It was good," I turned to him with a smirk. "Killian drove half of the way home. Thank you for teaching him how to drive by the way."

Mary Margaret looked over at her husband in shock and he just chuckled. "You're welcome. He's a fast learner so it wasn't hard."

I saw movement and looked to see Regina standing back with her arms in front of her. She gave me a tight lipped smile and a nod.

"Miss. Swan."

I gave my parents a smile and moved over to her. "Regina, we need to talk."

She raised her eyebrow at me. I opened my mouth but was cut off by the sound of the bell above the door.

"Regina!" Roland yelled out.

Words couldn't describe the look that appeared on her face in that moment. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide as the little boy ran through the diner and up to her. She dropped to her knees just in time for the little boy to launch himself into her arms.

"Roland!"

Robin ran in a second later and I had to hold back my own tears as her face changed from shock to pure happiness.

"Robin?!" She chocked out.

The thief stood in the doorway of the diner and stared at Regina like she was the most beautiful creature on earth. Time seemed to slow as she stood, picking the boy up with her, as Robin took tentative steps toward her.

Tears shown bright in both of their eyes when they finally reached each other. Robin moved his hand up to cup her face and Regina let out a watery chuckle.

She opened her mouth to speak but Robin shook his head and whispered. "I missed you."

She never got a chance to respond before he brought his lips down to hers. Tears ran down their face as they kissed and when they finally pulled apart, they leaned their foreheads against each other's and chuckled.

The bell rang again as Killian stepped into the diner and my heart burst as I watched Henry wrap his arms around him and give him a tight hug. Killian closed his eyes, smiled softly, and held my son close.

I heard a sniffle and turned to see my Mary Margaret wipe her eyes as she stared at Regina and Robin while David looked at Henry and Killian with pride.

"We're here visiting!" Roland called out and Regina's face fell.

Robin and I both started to shake our heads and I took a step toward her. We exchanged a look, we knew we had to tell her but also that Roland couldn't hear it.

"We need to talk."

***

Regina gripped the chair she stood in front of and locked her jaw. "You left her there?"

"What else did you want us to do?" I asked.

She chuckled darkly and started to pace. "I know what I would have done." "Regina!" My mother gasped out and the queen looked at her with zero guilt.

Henry looked up from his spot on the couch with Roland. I gave him a smile and shook my head. He returned my smile with one of his own before he looked back down at his storybook and continued to read to the little boy.

We had decided to head back to the loft to tell them about what happened instead of doing it at Granny's. We didn't want to chance someone over hearing what we had to say and also weren't sure how Regina would react.

Henry, being the perfect son, like always, offered to read to Roland while me, Killian, David, Mary Margaret, Regina, and Robin stayed in the kitchen.

"That's hardly the most important point here," Robin started. "My son. Roland's not going to understand where his mother's gone. For him to lose her again..."

"A forgetting potion," Regina cut him off. "Just take him back to before the fake Marian showed up. He'll lose time, but it's better, right?"

Robin let out a sigh and nodded his head. "Yes... Thank you." Regina pressed her lips together and nodded.

"Look, she's stuck in New York, there's no way she can get back here," I explained.

"Until she meets up with Gold!" Regina cried out. "Do you really think the Dark One isn't trying to figure out a way to get back here?"

Killian and I looked at each other and I sighed. He put his left hand on my thigh and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Gold is dead."

The entire room went silent.

"No he isn't," Regina replied with a chuckle.

"He is, Regina," Robin said. "Emma and I watched it happen."

A shiver went down my spine as the memories flashed through my mind. His eyes had rolled back into his head as the monitors beeped right before the nurses and doctors rushed in and pushed us aside.

Gold's arm went limp as they grabbed the crash cart and attempted to restart his heart. I remembered how his body jumped on the table every time they shocked him and how his muscles twitched. But it had just been from the electricity, because after the fourth jump, they called it.

Gold... Rumplestiltskin was dead.

"The doctors said it was heart failure. I don't know if that's true or not... Or if he was here if that's... But that's what they said," I mumbled.

David let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair. "We have to tell Belle," Mary Margaret whispered.

Killian cleared his throat. "I'd like to be the one."

We all looked at him in shock before Regina chuckled.

"You? Do you honestly think that kind of news is something you should tell?" "Regina's right," David said. "You might not be the best person."

Killian clenched his jaw and hissed out, "I don't want to do it for pleasure."

I took his hand in my own while my mother spoke, "Killian we don't think that." Regina rolled her eyes, clearly she had, but Mary Margaret continued.

"It's just the history you all have..."

He nodded. "Aye. But the librarian and I have grown quite close in our time spent together doing research..."

"Hook, your intentions may be good..." David started.

Killian wiped his mouth and cut him off. "I've grown fond of the lass. I don't wish to bring her pain... I just want to be there for her."

I gave him a small smile and rubbed his hand before he stood.

"But, if it'll make you all feel better," he motioned to David. "I'm open to having the prince come with me."

David and Killian looked at each other for a couple seconds before my father nodded.

"It should be done sooner rather than later," Mary Margaret said. "It would be cruel to keep this kind of information from her."

"The library is already closed, she should be at home. I'll grab my coat," David said as he walked out of the kitchen.

I reached out and pulled Killian to me. He signed. "Swan, I'm not..."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the piece of paper Gold had given me before he died. I placed it in Killian's hand and closed his fingers around it.

"Make sure she knows we are all here if she needs anything."

He looked down at his hand then moved his eyes back up to me. There was a nod and a kiss before he left the loft with David.

"We should do something," Mary Margaret insisted. "A plaque maybe... Or his name added onto Neal's stone."

There was an awkward silence and my mother looked at us. "Or if you think we shouldn't..."

"No," Regina started. She let out a sigh and stood up tall. "You're right. Gold was a lot of things, and he hurt a lot of people... But this won't be about him. It'll be for Belle. We'll let her decide."

"That might be best," Robin agreed.

She looked over at him and I could tell in her eyes that she was still trying to grasp that he was in front of her.

"Papa?"

We all looked over to see Roland and Henry walk into the kitchen. "Can I have some ice cream?"

Chuckles rang out in the kitchen and Regina's smile widened.

"I think we have some in the freezer," Mary Margaret said as she stood and walked to the fridge. Robin put his hand up to stop her. "Ugh, thank you, milady. But we must really go to make camp." "Camp?" Regina asked in shock.

My mother and I exchanged an amused look.

"Ugh, well, I didn't want..." Robin stuttered and Regina raised her eyebrow. He sighed with a smile. "I didn't want to assume."

She tried to hide her smile and looked down at the ground. "Well, you're more than welcome." She said softly.

Robin took her hand and Regina blushed.

I cleared my throat and put my elbows on the island. "And if it's okay with you, Regina, I was wondering if Henry could stay with me tonight."

She broke her gaze from Robin and nodded. "Of course, you haven't seen him in a week. I wouldn't expect anything else."

Mary Margaret pulled the ice cream out of the freezer and placed it on the counter. "Roland could stay here, too. Keep Henry company, and I could enroll him back into school tomorrow."

Robin and Regina looked at us in shock.

Roland jumped up and down. "Yes! Papa can I stay with Henry?"

"Emma, I couldn't possibly ask you to look after my son two nights in a row." Regina blinked. "Two nights?"

I chuckled as Robin struggled to explain.

"The lady Emma insisted that Killian and I go out last night with her friend Oliver to... let off steam."

"There are pictures."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and waved my hand over it. Photos appeared on the counter and I had to admit that it felt good to use my magic again.

Roland giggled. "Papa made funny noises this morning and called Killian the devil." Regina's eyes went wide as she picked up the photos and my mother laughed.

"It's not a problem." I said to Robin. "As long as Henry doesn't mind."

"I don't mind," he said as he took a seat next to me and pulled Roland up onto his lap. "We can watch movies."

Mary Margaret placed two bowls of ice cream in front of the boys and turned to Regina with a smile.

"It'll give you two time to... catch up," she said with a slight grin which caused both Robin and Regina to blush.

Regina's eye stayed on one photo longer than the others before she put it down and handed the pile to mother.

"Still..." Robin started. "We insist," I cut him off.

We spoke a little while longer before Robin and Regina decided to leave. I turned to Henry as they said goodbye to Roland.

"Hey, kid. Remember that tree you painted in art class back in New York?" His eyes lit up. "That was the one that reminded me of mom's!"

I nodded. "It's in my bag. I thought you'd like to give it to her."

Henry shot up from his chair and ran to where my bags were. I looked back when I heard my mother gasp.

"Oh, Emma, this is a beautiful picture. You both look so happy."

She turned the photo toward me and I smiled. It was a picture of me and Killian Felicity had taken our first night there. I was sitting on his lap, snuggled back into his chest. We had tried to pose for the photo but Killian had tickled my side and I started to laugh. My laughing face was turned toward him and his face, also laughing, was tucked over my shoulder, and our cheeks touched.

I put the photo back on the counter and smiled up at her. "I have so much to tell you." She grinned and motioned to the front door. "Let's say goodbye first."

I grabbed the photo of Robin before my mother and I walked up as Henry handed Regina the painting. "Henry," she gasped as she stared at the painting. "This is beautiful. Thank you."

"Emma brought it back from New York so I could give it to you."

Regina looked up at me with glassy eyes. I gave her a shy smile and crossed my arms. Henry gave her one last hug before he walked back into the living room with Roland. Robin said goodnight to me and my mother before he told Regina he would be outside and walked out the door.

I handed her the photo of Robin. "I thought you'd might like this, too.'

She looked at the photo and shy smile appeared on her face. "It seems I have much to thank you for, Emma."

I shook my head. "Zelena would have never come back if I hadn't made the decision to bring Marian back."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, well, I guess none of that matters now." We nodded and she turned to walk out the door.

"Regina."

She stopped and looked back me.

"In New York, before Gold died, he told me that Walsh, Zelena's monkey, used a potion on me... Robin knows the name of it. I don't know why... could you maybe help me in figuring it out?"

"Of course."

"Whenever you have time, you know, after you're done... catching up," I said with a smirk. Regina breathed out a chuckle and shook her head. "You are about as subtle as your mother." I snorted. We said goodnight and I shut the door behind her.

It was good to be home.

***

After Henry and Roland fell asleep on the couch, Mary Margaret and I moved back to the kitchen. We both laughed as she went through the photos.

"He's a good looking man, isn't he?" I gasped. "Mom!"

She rolled her eyes at me. "Oh please, I'm married, I'm not dead. He's the one you kissed?"

"Once. A life time ago. It was never like that with us, when we met we were both in bad spots and we just understood each other."

She flipped to the next photo. "His wife is beautiful, too. I'm so happy you had people in your life like them."

"Yeah, I just wish I appreciated them back then like I do now."

She gave me a sad smile before she went back to another photo and laughed. It was a photo of Oliver and Killian. They were sitting at the dining room table next to each other. Oliver pointed at the camera with his eyes squinted while Killian held up his wine glass and raised his eyebrow.

"They got along great. Like really great, it was a true bromance."

"That's good. You're father and I were worried. Hook isn't exactly good at hiding his jealousy." I nodded. "Me too. But it was fine."

We looked through the rest of the photos and I told her the story behind each one. We had just gotten to the photos Killian and I had taken at Central Park when the front door opened.

David and Killian looked exhausted and my heart broke. Before a word could be spoken, Killian walked up to me, pulled me off of the stool and kissed me.

His hands cupped my face and his lips pressed hard. After a few seconds, I put my hands on his chest and softly pushed.

"Mm, hey... What's..." "I love you, Emma."

My eyes searched his and I found nothing but sorrow. I reached up and ran my thumb over his scar. "I love you, too." I looked over to see David had done the same with my mother. "What's wrong?" Killian closed his eyes and shook his head.

"She's devastated," he whispered.

I turned to see dad wrap his arm around my mother and rub her back. "Completely heart broken," David explained. "We tried to comfort her, but..." "Poor Belle," Mary Margaret whispered with tears in her eyes.

"She's going to need some time," Killian whispered. "I told her I would take care of the library in her absence."

I rubbed his back and gave him a smile. "That's very kind of you." "It's the least I could do, love."

"We talked about maybe having a plaque or putting his name on Neal's gravestone. Something for Belle..." Mary Margaret explained.

"That's nice," David said.

"Aye. Perhaps at a later time would be best." My mother and I nodded. "Of course."

"I don't know if she should be alone though..." I started. "Maybe I should go over? Just so someone is there?"

David and Mary Margaret exchanged a look before they turned to me.

"Belle and Will Scarlet started seeing each other right after you left for your trip." My eyebrows went up. "Really?"

"Aye. The little thief was there when we showed. He was going to leave, but we thought it best he stayed."

"Hm, well, at least she has someone."

"It's getting late, and I'm sure you two are exhausted from your trip," David spoke as he moved from the kitchen and stopped. "Looks like we have another person staying with us tonight?"

Mary Margaret and I chuckled.

"I offered to keep him so that Regina and Robin could..." "Catch up," I finished for her.

Killian raised an eyebrow and David snorted as he picked up the photos on the counter. We all moved to go to bed when I caught the look my mother sent me. I sighed and turned back to Killian.

"Will you take our bags upstairs? I'll be right up."

He gave me a kiss on the forehead and carried them upstairs.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. But did we hear 'I love you, too'?" Mary Margaret whispered frantically with a big smile.

I bit my lip. David shook his head and handed me the photos. The one on top was the 'selfie' Killian and I had taken at Central Park. He gave me a kiss on the forehead and spoke.

"We are happy for you, sweetheart." I gave him a skeptical look and he chuckled. "Hook is a good man, and he loves you very much, Emma. I don't think I could ask more in a suitor for my daughter."

***

I woke the next morning when I felt Killian start to move.

"What the..." I whispered to myself when I opened my eyes and saw skin. Killian chuckled and I lifted my head.

Henry was on the other side of the bed, his right arm above his head, his body slanted since half of his left side was on top of Killian's right shoulder. Killian was next to him, his right arm stuck under the body of my son, and his left arm stretched out to touch the top of my head. In between us was Roland. The little boy was on his stomach, his left arm and leg laid out across Killian's chest, his head tucked in my shoulder while his left arm slung over my face and his left knee jammed in my ribs.

When my brain finally started to function, I remembered that Henry had woken me in the middle of the night because Roland had a bad dream, and in my sleep filled mind, I told them to crawl in bed with us while Killian slept soundly next to me.

"Looks like we had visitors in the night, love?"

I carefully removed Roland's arm and rolled myself out of bed.

"They came up here last night after Roland had a bad dream. Something about a big green guy in purple shorts," I explained as I stretched. "I was half asleep and told them to get in bed with us."

"Ugh, Swan?" I looked over at him to see he was still trapped. "Little help?"

I leaned down and carefully rolled Roland over to my vacant spot which gave Killian enough room to slink down to the bottom of the bed and get out.

I laughed softly when I had to catch him as he stumbled. "Sorry. I really didn't think this through," I whispered.

He shrugged his shoulders and gave me a kiss. "Good morning."

I smiled, wrapped my arms around his waist and placed my head on his chest.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._

"Happy to be home, love?'

I lifted my head and looked up at him. "Mhm. What about you?"

Killian tilted his head and pressed his lips together. "Of course, even if it means I'm not the only man in your bed."

I pinched his side and he chuckled.

"Well, pretty soon this won't be my bed anymore."

He grinned and whispered against my lips, "Right you are, Swan."

We decided to let the boys sleep a little longer and went downstairs. I walked over to check on my brother since my parents were still asleep, as Killian started the coffee maker. I was surprised to find Neal gurgling and kicking his legs happily.

"Good morning, big guy," I whispered as I picked him up.

He gurgled more while I walked into the kitchen. Killian turned to us and put his hands out. I raised my eyebrow.

"Really?"

"I actually missed the little prince." He said with a shrug.

Killian put his hands under Neal's arms and pulled him from me. I smiled as he shh'd the baby and turned him to place him on his chest. He moved his lips to the baby's head and smiled.

"Hey there, wee lad," he whispered. "Another one that rises with the sun? We're going to make a pirate out of you yet."

A soft laugh escaped my mouth before I rubbed Neal's back and turned to the coffee. Killian bounced him as he walked to the island.

"Coffee?"

"Aye, love."

As we drank our coffee, we stayed mostly quiet, except for the few laughs we let out from the noises Neal made.

"I think the little prince is using my shoulder as a chew toy."

I held back a snort, leaned over the island and to the side to get take look. Neal did in fact have his mouth on Killian's shoulder and his shirt was covered soaked through from baby spit.

"Your lucky it's only spit," David mumbled as he walked into the kitchen rubbing the back of his head. He gave me a kiss on the temple and Killian a nod.

"Is there coffee?"

I nodded and motioned to the freshly brewed pot. "Dealt with worse, then, have you, mate?"

David filled his mug, turned back around, leaned against the counter, and motioned with his cup to Killian.

"My friend, you have no idea."

The three of us shared a laugh as we drank our coffee. Killian moved his right hand from the baby's back and pulled the photos on the counter toward him. I smiled. The last time he had held Neal, he had been terrified, and there he was, holding the baby against his chest with one arm like a seasoned pro.

Killian looked down at the photo of us and smiled.

"I have to say, this is one advantage of this realm that I do enjoy," he mumbled.

"I have to agree," David started. "It's nice to have something that holds a moment in time." "Aye."

Mary Margaret walked into the kitchen and gave David a kiss. "Keep it up, Killian and I'll make you are permanent babysitter."

He rubbed my brothers back and grinned. "S'fine with me, milady. I'll teach the little prince how to become a real pirate."

"I think that's enough," David mumbled and moved to take the baby from Killian's arms.

I shook my head and wiped his shoulder with a napkin. David walked out of the room mumbling something about Neal never being a pirate and Mary Margaret turned to us with a determined look.

"Can I see it?" She asked.

Killian and I looked at each other with our brows together as I sat down on the stool next to him. His left hand immediately lifted and rested on my thigh.

"See what, exactly?" I asked in a curious tone.

Mary Margaret walked up to the island with her coffee mug and leaned forward on it. "The tattoo you got for my daughter, Captain."

"Snow," David sighed from the bedroom. "Oh hush, Charming."

"Bad form, mate."

David laid Neal back in his bassinet. "Are you telling me you didn't tell my daughter I saw it?" Killian's ears turned pink and he took a sip of his coffee.

"It's in a private place, mom!"

She rolled her eyes. "Like I haven't seen his chest before. Do you remember how deep his shirts were?"

It was my turn to blush and stare into my coffee, because I had in fact remembered that. I used to catch myself staring at his chest on a frequent basis and always told myself I had been staring at his necklace.

All lies.

My mother waved her hand toward him. "So, let's see it."

Killian sighed and pulled the collar of his Henley down to expose the tattoo. Mom leaned over the island to get a better look and I suddenly felt embarrassed.

_It's almost like they are reading my diary._

My mother hummed and looked up at Killian. "It's very beautiful."

She leaned back and Killian cleared his throat as he let go of his shirt. "Thank you, milady." "Did it hurt?"

He rubbed his thumb on my leg and said, "It was nothing compared to the pain that was my reasoning for it."

My heart fluttered and my head tilted toward him.

Mary Margaret gave him a soft smile and patted him arm. "That is very true."

A little while later after I had washed and was cleaning up breakfast, Regina and Robin showed up at the loft to take Henry to school and re enroll Roland. Killian was in the shower and David had already left for the station. I grumbled a bit, but I did appreciate the extra day to unpack every thing I had brought back from New York.

Mom wiggled her eyes at Regina and I laughed at the shocked look on her face, even more so because she couldn't hide her grin.

They planned on giving Roland the forgetting potion in the car on the way to school. He was young enough that whatever story they told him about his forgotten time he would believe, which was a good thing.

"Emma, do you mind watching Neal while I go help Regina and Robin at the school? Plus, I want to make sure everything is in order for when I go back next week. It should only be for a couple hours."

I wiped my hands on the towel. "Sure, that's no problem."

"Thank you, sweetie. I'll be home around lunch time. I fed him, he'll probably sleep until about ten and want another bottle. It's in the fridge."

"Got it."

She put her hand on my arm and gave it a light squeeze before she walked off to grab her purse.

"Thank you, again, Emma," Robin said as I approached them. "Truly. I hope he wasn't any trouble."

I waved my hand. "None at all, he did wake up from a bad dream last night about a big green guy in purple shorts. I told Henry maybe he should cool it on the super hero movies for a little bit."

Robin chuckled and agreed with me.

Henry walked up and I put my arm around him. "Got everything you need?"

He nodded. "Yup. I'll see you after school?" "I'll be there."

He gave me a hug and followed Mary Margaret, Robin, and Roland out the door. "Tell Killian I said bye," he called out.

"I will!"

"Emma," Regina started. "What's up?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial with purple liquid inside.

"Robin said the potion Zelena had you drink was a potion to heal a broken heart. I did this this morning for you. Drink it and whatever memories or feelings you lost will come back."

"Regina, you didn't have to do this right away."

She shook her head and I took the vial. "It wasn't hard and I had to make the potion for Roland." "Thank you."

Regina took my hand in hers.

"Thank you, Emma." Her voice was low but powerful. "Thank you for bringing him back, for taking Roland last night, and even for sending him out to drink with Captain guy liner and your friend."

I chuckled. "Yeah, well, I thought it might help."

"He says it did. Said it helped him let go, even if that meant drowning his sorrows with, from what I was told, a lot of rum."

We shared a laugh and she let go of my hand.

"Regina, this potion he gave me, I don't understand why it would take away memories if it was a potion to heal a broken heart."

"I thought that too, but then I remembered something. You know that tree, the one in the painting Henry did that you brought back for me?" I nodded. "He told me that he use to go that tree and just stare at it. It made him feel happy and sad, but he didn't know why until his memories were back. That's when he realized it was because the tree reminded him of me. I think it might be something similar with you. Even though your memories of Storybrooke were gone, your feelings were still there, so in order for the potion to work, it had to take away the memories you had of feeling broken hearted. But we won't know until you drink the potion."

"That makes sense."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Call me and let me know if you need anything else."

I told her I would. We said goodbye and I closed the door behind her. I stared at the vial in my hand and walked over to sit on the couch. I had never really thought about the first couple months after the curse, before I met Walsh. It was behind me and there had been no reason too.

But when I tried to remember, it was almost like I was watching a movie edited for tv. All the major scenes were there but some things were missing.

I placed the vial on the coffee table and sat back.

When Gold had told me Walsh had used a potion on me, I felt violated. I had considered spending the rest of my life with him and it seemed the only reason I did that was because he forced it without my knowledge.

Which, when I thought about it, made sense. Once I got my memories back, all my walls had gone back up, and I had spent countless nights lying awake wondering how I could have ever let someone in so easily.

Sure, the cursed memories Regina had given me of keeping Henry had made me somewhat open to the possibility of love, but even then I was still bitter and hurt over what Neal had done to me to even consider opening up fully.

None of it made sense.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of Killian walking down the stairs.

"Will just rang me from Belle's. He said she was just going to keep the library closed for a couple days and would let me know when she planned on opening again."

I snapped my gaze up to him and gave him a tight lipped smile.

"'I'd wager even after a couple days she won't be up for it. Not once word gets around town. I'll ring later and let her know my offer still stands to take care of it while she's in disposed."

I rubbed my hands on my arms. "Sounds good."

Killian looked down at me in concern. "Swan, what's wrong?"

I motioned to the vial on the table. "Robin told Regina that the potion Walsh gave me was to heal a broken heart. She brewed me up a cure."

He stared at the vial with his brow together. "Cure?"

"Ugh, yeah. Regina seems to think, and I kind of agree with her, that because I didn't know what was causing me to be... hurt, I guess, that in order for the potion to heal me or whatever, it had to take away the memories I had of feeling that way. That there will tell me what it took."

Killian sat down in the chair across from me. "Are you going to take it?"

"Yes. I don't like the fact that something happened to me and I don't know about it. It's just... this potion will literally rebreak my heart again, so to speak, and I have to prepare myself for that."

"Well, I'm here," he leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees and held his hands in between his legs. "I'll help you heal your heart again."

I gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

He gave me nod and motioned toward the vial. I let out a sigh and rubbed my hands on my jeans before I sat up and picked it up. I popped the top off and held it up.

"Cheers."

Killian grinned and I swallowed the liquid down. My eyes squeezed shut as the cold liquid ran down my throat.

Suddenly, I was slammed with different memories and emotions. My eyes flew open, tears already clouded my vision and I let out a gasp.

One by one, my memories came back.

_I was in New York and just signed off on the lease for the new apartment, but it didn't feel like home. Even though Henry was there, it wasn't home._

_I found a napkin stuffed in my coat pocket, the names weren't familiar but they were written in my handwriting and when I read them, I felt a sting. I tried to call the number but it was disconnected. I stared at the napkin for hours as my fingers traced the symbol next to the names. Every time my finger made the curve on the symbol, my heart broke more and more._

_Henry and I were at the mall. We wanted to buy things for the new apartment when I walked by the Disney store. There was a display in the window for the rerelease of Peter Pan on blu ray and there was a large card board cut out of the cartoon Pan flying through the air, his sword pointed downward to the cartoon Captain Hook. I stared at the hook the animated man had for a hand and felt an ache in my heart I couldn't explain._

_We _ _went to a carnival that was held in the park across the street from the new apartment. One of the games that was there was shoot a bow and arrow at the target for a prize. When we walked by there was a little girl who held up the bow to line up her shot. Her mother had called her Mary. Her hair was black and cut just above her shoulders. When I saw her, I yearned for more time, but I wasn't sure what I wanted more time of._

_I went to the supermarket to food shop and as my food was being rung up, the cashier asked me if I was making shepherds pie. He had blonde hair and when I looked at his name tag, I felt the cold hard stab loneliness when I read the name David._

_It was Halloween and I took Henry out for trick or treating. He dressed up as Luke Skywalker. We walked up the house as a group of kids were walking away. In the group, there was a young girl dressed as Snow White, and my heart grew heavy._

_Henry and I went to the flea market to pick up some fresh fruit for the fruit salad he asked me to make. I had been about to approach a table when a man bumped into me. His name was Walsh and he tried to use a ridiculous line on me in order to get my number. I blew him off and went to go walk away when he tried to offer me a coconut as an apology. I stared at the coconut in his hand and felt the pain of regret, I just didn't know for what._

_I was at the zoo tailing a perp. He went into the petting zoo section and I followed him. I stood by the fence when a sheep walked up to a little girl and sniffed her hand. The little girl giggled and yelled out to the sheep, "You found me! You always find me!". I felt like a lost little orphan._

_I was late for work when I ran into that creepy guy Walsh again. He stopped and talked to me as if we were old friends. He was getting on my nerves and I tried to walk away, but he put his arm out. My_

_left hand that had my energy drink in it got bumped by a person that walked by and got covered in a sticky caffeinated beverage. Walsh tried to give me handkerchief to dry off and I felt empty inside._

_For the third night in a row, I woke up with a gasp and my heart was pounding. All I could remember from the dream was the feel of lips on my forehead as green and purple smoke filled the air and male voice that screamed 'Swan!' as it echoed of the walls. Each time, I cried myself back to sleep._

_The third time Walsh and I "accidentally ran into each other", I freaked. I accused him of being a stalker and told him to leave me the hell alone or I would have him arrested. He apologized and said he just wanted to get know me. He said that I was beautiful and he would be okay with just being a friend since he was new to New York. But later he joked about winning my heart and I felt a sense of longing for the words to be true, just not from him._

As each memory flashed through my mind, I let out a whimper. By the time the last one was finished, my hands covered my mouth as I sobbed and tears ran down my face.

I remembered every feeling of loneliness, every feeling of heart break, and every feeling on emptiness that I had felt in the first couple months after the curse that I couldn't explain.

I had always believed, before Hook and I went back to the Enchanted Forest, that there was something wrong with me. Henry had found things that 'reminded' him and I thought I never did. Which explained part of why I was so adamant about returning to New York. I couldn't remember that my heart had been broken and missed them, even if my mind couldn't remember.

When a hand reached up and grabbed my wrist, I turned to my left to see Killian. His face was filled with anguish and I gasped.

"Hook?!" I sobbed out.

I yanked him to me and threw my arms around his shoulders. I sobbed and held him tight. Even though my brain told me we had been together almost every single day for the past year, the feelings of missing him were fresh and I wanted him closer.

"Emma, love you're scaring me."

I shook my head and pulled him tighter. "I missed you so much!" I sobbed out.

I pulled back and cupped his face in my hands before I kissed him. His hands gripped my waist and I held onto him like my life depended on it. We pulled apart and another sob raked through my body. Killian sat there, helpless as he held me. My chest felt tight and i suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe.

My lungs screamed as I started to hyperventilate. My chest heaved up and down and my hands gripped Killian's arms.

"Emma, breathe. You have to breathe for me, sweetheart." I sucked in a large gulp of breath and coughed.

He nodded. "Good girl, now take another deep breath and let it out slow."

I closed my eyes, but when I did, the new/old memories flashed and I started to hyperventilate again. Killian's voice sounded far away and my panic started to rise.

_He's not here._

My hold on him grew tighter for fear he was would slip through my fingers and disappear. My sobs and pants grew louder as I felt hands on my face.

"Open your eyes, Emma. Come on, look at me, love."

My eyes flew open and they were connected with his blue ones. "Killian..." I chocked out his name.

"You're having a panic attack. Calm down for me, can you do that?' He asked softly. My chest continued to heave up and down and I squeezed my eyes shut again.

"No, no, Emma, look at me. Open your eyes." I looked back into his eyes. "That's right, keep your eyes on me. Now breathe. You're fine, we're fine. I'm right here with you, just keep your eyes on me."

I nodded and took a deep breath in, my lungs stung but I didn't cough when I breathed out. Killian nodded and gave a small smile.

"That's it, now try it again. Breathe in and let it out slow."

My eyes stayed connected with his as I listened to his instructions. "Good girl. Stay focused on me, okay, love? Keep breathing."

After a few moments, my breathing returned to normal and my hands had stopped shaking. "Good," he whispered before he leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "Good girl."

His hands reached up and wiped my wet cheeks as my sobs started to lessen. When I finally started to breath normal again Killian sighed.

"Well, that was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced, and I've been around for hundreds of years."

I rolled my eyes at his attempt of humor, but when I studied his face, I noticed he looked scared. My mouth opened and a stuttered breath escaped. "I'm sorry.'

Killian's face showed pain before he pulled me to his chest.

"Christ, don't be sorry, love. Don't ever be sorry. What happened? What do you remember?"

My lip quivered and the tears continued to roll down my face. I hid my face in his neck and tried to commit to memory how it felt to be in his arms.

We were quiet for a long time, he just held me, kissed my head and rubbed his hands up and down my back. He eventually leaned back on he couch. I snuggled into his chest and held him tight around the waist.

Every feeling I had after the curse resurfaced. Every feeling that left me confused raced through me and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a ball and shut out the world.

When the tears finally stopped and the only noises that filled the room were the sounds of my sniffles, I decided it was time Killian heard the truth.

"The potion..." I cleared my itchy throat.

"Aye?"

He reached up with his right hand and cupped my face before he kissed my temple.

His thumb rubbed softly along my cheek as I fought back my tears and explained every painful memory to him and how I had felt after each encounter. By the time I was done, I had started to cry again and Killian just rocked me in his arms, with his lips on my forehead.

"Shh, s'alright, love." He repeated over and over in a whisper.

I shook my head, pushed myself up, and turned to face him. "No, Killian, don't you get it? If Zelena had never had Walsh give me that potion, when you came for me in New York, I would have remembered those feelings."

His brow went together in confusion and I let out a small sob.

"Killian, if he hadn't given me that potion I would have never fought you," I motioned in between us. "I would have never fought us! I missed you so much and I didn't even remember you!"

His face went soft and he sat up.

"Regina may have had to take my memories of you, but they took you out of my heart!" I cried out. Killian shook his head and pulled me closer to him.

"I may not have remembered my parents or you, but my heart did, and they took that away from me!" He brought his hands up to my face and cupped my jaw.

"That matters not, Swan," he whispered. I shook my head and he tightened his grip on my jaw. "Emma, all that matters is that we are together now."

I let out stuttering breath. "I fought you for so long..."

"And it's only made me love you more. Don't look back on our past with sorrow. It's not the most traditional tale..."

"But we've never been ones for tradition," I finished for him with a small smile.

"Aye," he put his hands on the outside of my thighs. "I'm sorry they did that to you. Though it brings me happiness to know that I was in your heart, it's over shadowed by the pain it caused during our lost year."

He reached up and wiped my tears. I sucked in a breath and even though I knew it made me completely raw and vulnerable, I had to say it.

"Please don't ever leave me," I begged in a soft whisper.

He shook his head, his eyes were bright with determination, and brought his lips down to mine after he whispered.

"Never."


	19. Chapter 19

Killian and I moved into our new house two weeks after we returned to Storybrooke. It hadn't been easy telling my parents that I was moving out, but they understood and gave us their blessing. It also helped that they loved the house and that it wasn't far.

When I first took them to see it, my mother cried while my father just shook his head. It was easy enough to fill our bedroom with all of our personal belongings and my old bed, and even easier for Henry, especially since Killian took him out and bought whatever he wanted, but we still needed furniture for the rest of the house.

We planned on taking a trip back to New York but the day before we were supposed to leave, I got sick. A stupid cold went around the town and even though I tried to avoid it, it latched onto me and I could barely lift my head let alone travel.

Killian tried to stay behind, apparently even a common cold had him acting as if I was on my death bed, but Oliver insisted he would help him if he made the trip himself. Which in turn caused Henry to say he could still go. Regina and I tried to argue against it, but when Robin offered his services as well, we both begrudgingly agreed. Mary Margaret also decided that if the men were going to take David's truck, he should tag along with them.

Oliver and Felicity were thrilled when they heard the news. They couldn't wait to meet Henry and David, who we had to explain to that to them he was my brother not my father. He didn't like it but when I told him he was my protective older brother, he agreed.

Which lead to everyone being at the loft to say goodbye since I was bed ridden and we didn't have any furniture for anyone else at our own house. Also, because my mother refused to let me out of her sight, as well. Her motherly instincts on high alert.

It wasn't easy for any of us to have them leave, but since we knew the Snow Queens scroll worked, we knew they would be back.

"I don't know about this," Killian mumbled as he paced back and forth at the bottom of my parents bed. Everyone had already gone down to the truck to say goodbye and leave.

I rolled my eyes. "You will be gone a little over twenty four hours. What could happen?" He stopped his pacing and sent me a glare.

"Okay, you're right. But nothing will happen. If anything you should be happy to know that I can't go anywhere while you're gone."

Killian sat down beside me on the bed. "Emma you're sick..."

"It's just a mild fever and a cold! I'll be fine. Go have fun with the men. Talk about women, pick up heavy things, you know, manly stuff."

He chuckled and took my hand in his.

"You're so warm," he whispered as he reached up to feel my face.

I smirked. "You weren't complaining this morning about how warm I was."

Flashes of our early morning romp out our house went through my mind. He took his time and I shivered as I recalled how sexy his voice had sounded when he whispered in my ear, "Bloody hell, Swan. You're setting me on fire."

Killian rolled his eyes. "That shouldn't have happened while you were sick, and if I was a stronger man, I would have been able to resist you and your charms."

I giggled.

"Everything will be fine. Mary Margaret is here and Regina is staying..." His eyebrow went up. "Regina is staying here?"

"It'll be easier to speak to Henry and it's only for the night she magicked herself a bed upstairs for her and Roland. Plus, you saw my mother. I think she has every cold medicine known to man."

A small smile graced his face. We sat there in silence before he let out a huff and stood. "Fine, but if anything happens I want you to ring me right away."

I put my fingers to my head and gave him a fake salute. "Aye, aye, captain." He shook his head at me before he leaned down to give me a soft kiss.

"I'll miss you."

That brought his smile back and he kissed me again on my forehead. "I'll miss you, too. Rest, Swan. I'll see you tomorrow."

I held his hand until our distance forced us to let go as he left the room. With a sigh, I sunk back down into the covers and went to sleep.

It was around three in the morning that night when I got a text from Henry.

# They want to know if you are awake to do a video chat.

My brow went together and I pulled a blanket around myself and walked toward the kitchen. "Emma?"

I looked up to see my mother emerge from the living room just as Regina walked down the steps from my old room.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked in a panic.

"Ugh, Henry just text me. Said they wanted me on a video chat."

Regina's eye went wide. "What is Henry doing up at three o'clock in the morning?"

I shook my head and the three of us went down stairs. I sat at the dining room table and pulled Henry's laptop toward me as Regina took a seat next to me while Mary Margaret gave me a cup of broth.

The video chat rang as I sipped it.

When it connected, all of our eyes went wide.

"Heyyyooooo!" Four very grown, very drunken men shouted at the screen while Henry stood behind them and giggled.

"Are you all drunk?!" Regina hissed.

"Now, now, Regina, don't be upset," Robin slurred and her eyes went even wider. "Is that Regina?" Oliver asked and he nodded.

"Regina, this is Oliver," he put his arm around Oliver's shoulder and motioned to the screen. "Oliver, this is my lovely Regina."

Oliver flashed a lop sided smile. "Nice to meet you."

Regina pressed her lips together. "I can assume you're the reason my son is awake at three o'clock in the morning or do I blame the pirate?"

"Oyi!" Killian cried out at the same time my mother gasped her name.

Oliver's eyes went wide and my father chuckled. "Don't take it personally, man. She's like that with everyone. She's a tough shell to crack."

"I can hear you, charming!" Regina growled and all of the men laughed.

My mother and I exchanged a look. Thank god Oliver was too drunk to realize what she had been calling them.

I sipped the broth as David introduced my mother to Oliver, who waved shyly, but my eyes stayed on Killian. I frowned when I saw his brow was together.

"How are you feeling, love?" He asked when the introductions were over. "Yeah, Em, you look like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer!" Oliver giggled out. Killian hit him in the chest and he chuckled.

"I'm fine," I grumbled before I covered my face with a napkin and sneezed again.

"You know what will cure that? Rum!" Oliver cried out which caused both David and Robin to start laughing.

"Well, you still look beautiful," Killian said with a smile.

Oliver and Robin awed while David smacked him in the back of the head. "Really, mate?!"

"No flirting while I'm around!" David growled.

Killian rolled his eyes as Robin and Oliver snickered.

Regina huffed. "You men were supposed to be packing up the apartment." "We did, mom." Henry interrupted and moved aside.

Behind him there were boxes and when he hit the remote for the camera to move we saw the kitchen was empty.

"This was just a celebratory cocktail, darling," Robin explained and Regina rolled her eyes.

"I should FaceTime Felicity!" Oliver slurred as he struggled to pull his phone from his pocket. "Ollie, do not wake your wife up like you did the rest of us!" I said into the camera.

He wiggled his eyebrows at me as he dug the phone out before he walked out of the living room. I sighed and shook my head.

"You guys seem to be having fun," Mary Margaret said as she handed me another napkin. "We just wanted to say we missed you!" David slurred.

I started to laugh. It was the first time I had ever seen my father drunk. My laugh quickly turned into a coughing fit and I had to get up and walk into the kitchen so that Regina and my mother could continue their conversation. Just as I was finished, my phone started to buzz in my hand. I rolled my eyes and picked it up.

"Didn't I just see you?"

"How are you really feeling?" Killian's tone was low. I sighed and threw the used napkin in the trash. "It's just a cold, Killian."

"Colds can kill people, Emma."

My eyes rolled. "Back in the Enchanted Forest, maybe. But not here."

He huffed. "I don't understand why you wouldn't just take the potion Regina gave you."

"Because it's just a cold! I can handle a cold. I don't need magical assistance for it. How are things there?"

"Fine. We packed everything and moving it to the truck tomorrow morning."

I tried to snort, but because my nose was stuffed it turned into a cough. "You mean tomorrow afternoon. How's Henry? It's really late for him to be up."

"He's fine, love. This is the first time he's spending away from his mother, we let him stay up with the men."

My eyes went wide.

"Did you let him drink?!" I hissed.

Killian chuckled. "David let him have a sip of rum, just a sip!" My mouth fell open.

"Don't worry, the boy hasn't acquired a taste for it. He drank soda all night." I rolled my eyes. "No wonder he's awake. I don't know which is worse."

"Killian!" I heard in the background and echo from the computer. "Get back in here!" He sighed. "I'll see you on the chat, love."

We hung up and I walked back into the dining room.

"Henry, it's time for bed. Say goodnight to the man children you are with and go to sleep," Regina insisted as I sat down.

Killian gave me a smirk and I blushed.

Henry's shoulders sagged and he nodded. Robin threw him a look and I knew that once the chat was over, Henry would not be in bed.

He said goodnight and walked off. I smiled when I heard him call out to his 'Uncle Oliver'. Regina stood. "I'm going to bed as well. I hope you all are happy about waking us up." Robin chuckled. "Goodnight, my dear. I'll see you tomorrow night."

A small smile formed on her face before she quickly hid it. With a slight nod toward the laptop she turned and went back upstairs.

"Snow, New York is very different. I'd love to bring you one day," David said and I smiled at my mother. "Well, why don't you just worry about bringing yourself home first then we can talk about future trips?" "Yes, dear."

"Swan, go back to bed. Sorry we woke you. These two," he motioned with his thumb. "Couldn't wait."

David and Robin looked at him in shock "Okay, mate!" Robin laughed.

"Right," David cut in. "It wasn't you going off for twenty minutes about how you wanted to check on Emma to make sure she was okay."

Killian shook his head with a smile, "Lies."

Robin snorted while David turned behind him and yelled, "Oliver! Who wanted..." "Jones!" Oliver's voice yelled from the background. "It was all Jones!"

Mary Margaret and I both giggled while Killian scratched his ear and blushed.

"I just hope he's prepared to be called the devil again tomorrow morning," I mumbled and Killian chuckled.

"Jones is the man!" Oliver hollered again. David and Robin cheered and agreed. "Yeah, yeah. Okay. Goodnight guys."

My mother waved and blew David a kiss before she got up and went back into the living room. I watched as Robin stood and walked back toward Henry's room, probably to tell him the chat was over. David looked back and forth between me and Killian and groaned.

"Make it quick, Hook," he mumbled before he stood up and walked away. Killian and I smiled at each other.

"I'll see you tomorrow night, love. Would you like me to bring you anything?"

"Grilled cheese from Granny's? Mary Margaret is insisting I only intake broth," I pouted. He smirked. "As you wish."

I blew him a kiss and his smile widened. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Goodnight, handsome." "Goodnight, beautiful."

I turned the laptop off and went back to bed. The next morning I awoke to find a new message on my phone from Henry.

# They are all calling Killian the devil.

***

I threw the pillows on the floor and ran my hands over the bed.

"Where the hell is it?!" I whispered to myself as I stood up and put my hands on my hips. My eyes moved to the clock on the bedside table and I groaned.

_And I'm officially late._

I tripped over the pillows on the floor and rushed out of the room and down the steps.

I threw my jacket on over my shoulders and my arms hit a box. I stopped and closed my eyes as I heard it fall to the ground.

My lips pressed together and I let out a sigh before I started to move.

"I'm not late, I'm not late," I repeated to myself as I walked into the kitchen. "Yes you are," Henry chuckled with a mouth full of cereal.

I threw him a glare and grabbed my keys and cell phone off of the table. Killian turned and handed me my to go mug of coffee. I tilted my head and gave him a smile.

"You're the best," I whispered before I gave him a kiss as I took the mug.

He smiled at me and I moved to the counter to lift up pieces of mail. My elbow bumped another box. "Shit!" I hissed and went to grab it.

My hand was a second too late but before it could fall, a silver hook stopped it.

I let out a sigh and threw a look of gratitude toward Killian before I realized what I had said and groaned.

"I didn't say shit."

Henry giggled. "Yes, you did."

I groaned again and took a sip of my coffee. I opened the fridge and my brow went together. "Ugh, why are there a bunch of cupcakes in my fridge?"

I looked over at Killian and he shrugged as he sipped from his coffee.

"My other mom sent them over last night so I could take them to school today." My eyes went wide.

"You know, for Val..."

"Right!" I cut him off and shut the fridge. When I turned back around both Killian and Henry stared at me like I had two heads.

I chuckled and moved to grab my bag.

Killian leaned against the counter and reached his hook out to stop me. "What's the matter, love?"

I took a deep breath, shook my head, and plastered a fake smile on my face.

"Nothing," I looked away to look around the kitchen. "I'm just running late is all. Have you seen my.." I stopped talking when Killian held my badge up to me.

I rolled my eyes and took it from him. "Thank you. I have to run, I'm late."

With a quick kiss to Killian and Henry, I rushed out of the kitchen and knocked over another box. Killian appeared next to me and picked it up.

"David is back at work tomorrow and I have the late shift. I promise that I will have this house unpacked even if it kills me."

Killian chuckled. "I hope not, Swan, and it's fine. We've both been busy."

I nodded and turned to leave again when he stopped me. He reached up and scratched the back of his ear.

"Ugh, remember I asked..."

I looked at him confused before he lifted his hook and raised it up to my face. I closed my eyes and groaned.

"God, my head. Yes, I'm sorry." I waved my hand and the hook disappeared and was replaced with his left hand. "There you go."

After we had gotten back to Storybrooke he admitted that he missed his hook. We talked long about it, I told him that to me it didn't matter either way, but it wasn't until Regina came up with the solution that the decision was made. She restored his hook for him and taught me the spell to give him back his hand whenever he wished it. Most of the times, he walked around with the hook, but on some occasions, he asked me to change it back to his hand.

"Thanks, love. Belle asked if I was going to handle the books to not use the hook for fear that I might scratch them. Which, by the way reminds me, might be a little late tonight. We got our first real lead on how to get the fairies out of the hat."

My shoulders sagged and Killian raised his eyebrow. "That okay?"

I plastered another fake smile on my face and nodded. "Of course."

He gave me another kiss, swatted me on my behind and turned me to the door. I walked to my bug with sour face.

I couldn't be upset with Killian, it wasn't like a pirate who was over two hundred years old and born in the Enchanted Forest even knew what Valentine's Day was. And to be honest, I was never one to celebrate that ridiculous holiday, I had always felt it was a waste of time. But I had found my self trying new things since Killian and I got together and part of me actually wanted to celebrate. I wanted the cheesy heart shaped chocolates and flowers because they would have been from him.

It was also my fault. I had everyone in my family swear on fear of death not to mention the holiday to Killian. We knew we loved each other, we didn't have to parade it around town like everyone else believed they had to. But now that the day had finally arrived, I regretted it.

I sighed as I parked the car in front of the station. My brow went together as I watched Happy walk by with a heart shaped balloon. But it wasn't until I saw Ruby with a bear almost as big as her that I remembered why I hated the holiday.

"Morning, Emma." She greeted with a smile as she fixed her grip on the large bear. I gave a small wave and walked into the station.

Declarations of love didn't come as gifts for me. I never wanted to be gawked over or to have attention all on me, it was ridiculous and unnecessary. When you loved someone, it was everyday, and you should show them everyday, not once a year. But it still would have been nice to have a romantic evening in with Hook.

We hadn't had a night to ourselves since they got back from New York.

I turned the lights on in the station and hung my coat up. When I walked over to my desk, I smiled when I saw a pink card sitting there. The words Happy Valentine's Day were scribbled on the front in Henry's familiar handwriting. The card had a picture of Woody and Buzz on the front. Buzz carried Woody as he flew through the air and on top it said, 'Happy Valentine's Day'. When I opened it the words inside read, 'I love you to infinity and beyond'. My heart melted but I chuckled when I read the message Henry wrote himself.

'_Do you think they are real, too?! Love, Henry'_

I placed the card next to the photo I had of Killian and Henry on my desk and started my day.

***

I stumbled back as Will Scarlet raced out of Granny's with a large bouquet of roses, a brown bag of food, and two cups in each hand.

"Watch where you're bloody..." I raised my eyebrow and he stopped when he saw it was me. "Sheriff. How are you on this lovely day?"

My lips pressed together and my head tilted.

He let out a nervous chuckle. "Right then. Apologies. I'll see you later."

"You better have paid for those!" I called out to him as raced down the steps. "Sorry, gotta run!" He called back and I shook my head.

I walked into Granny's diner to see happy couples at almost each table. I found my father with Neal quickly and went to them. I greeted them each with a smile and a kiss on the cheek before I sat down.

"How's Neal?"

David rubbed his hand down the baby's leg. "He's fine. The fever broke yesterday morning and he actually slept through the night. Granny is going to watch him tonight so your mother and I can go out."

"Big Valentines Day plans?"

I gave the waitress a smile as she placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of me.

"Just some dinner and a stroll. Here, I know you didn't want anything but I don't listen." My face went soft as my father handed me a white rose.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Emma."

I took the rose. "Thanks, dad. It's beautiful. Any idea how Henry got into the station to leave that card on my desk?"

David smiled. "I may have let him in last night before I dropped him off."

I laughed and shook my head. My eyes stayed to the rose as I twirled it around my fingers. "Still didn't tell Hook about today?"

I sighed. "No. There's no point."

"Emma, even without any of us telling him do you really think he's not going to learn about it when he sees everyone walking around town?"

My eyes rolled. "I'm sure he'll think something is up, but he's working late at the library tonight so it doesn't matter. I'll cook dinner for him and Henry and it'll be fine. Besides, Regina deserves the night off to spend with Robin more than Hook and I do."

"You're stubborn just like your mother, you know that?" He asked with a chuckle.

I put the rose down and placed my hands on the table. "Even if he does figure it out, he knows me. He knows I'm not much for celebrating holidays, so he won't even mention it."

David took a sip of his coffee. "You're telling me there isn't a part of you that wants to celebrate Valentine's Day even a little bit?"

"Nope," I lied.

He shook his head. "You're a terrible liar, Emma."

The bell rang from the entrance of the diner and we both looked to see Ruby walk in. She had a smaller bear in her one arm while she still cradled the large on in the other.

"Seriously. Could you see me wanting something like that?" We both laughed.

"No," he started. "I don't suppose I could."

Later, just as the sun started to set, I closed the station early. I had zero calls that day since everyone was in a happy bliss from the holiday and decided to give myself a little Valentine's Day present. I hadn't heard from Killian all day, I knew he was busy at the library, but I figured I would stop by on my way back to the house. When I saw his response to the suggestion I frowned.

# Sorry, love. I'm a little busy. Rain check? I'll see you later tonight when I get home.

I huffed and shoved my phone into my pocket. I had already resigned myself to the fact that we weren't going to celebrate, but I wanted to see him before the day had been completely gone. Even if he didn't understand what Valentine's Day was, I could at least tell myself we did it in our own way.

With my mood officially dampened, I shut the station down, rerouted the calls to my cell and got in my car to go home to my empty, cluttered, box filled house.

Henry had texted after school and asked if he could stay over at his friends house so they could play video games. Like always, I told him to make sure it was okay with Regina, too. Part of me hoped she would have gone on one of her over protective rants and told him no so that we could have dinner together like I had planned, but the Queen obviously had a softened heart due to the holiday and agreed as well.

Which meant I was going home to a empty house where I would probably fall asleep before Killian had even made it home. Whenever he worked late at the library, I always dozed off on the couch, only to be woken when he lifted me in his arms to carry me to bed when he finally returned.

I stopped at the liquor store and picked myself up a bottle of wine. It looked like I was going to spend my Valentine's Day the old 'Emma Swan' way, which included wine, a nice warm bath, and a marathon on Netflix.

When I pulled up to our house, the sun was completely down and I only had a couple hours left of the stupid holiday. I grabbed my bottle of wine and trudged up the steps with my shoulders sagged.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the door was the smell. The delicious scent of garlic and herbs filled my senses and my brow went together. Then I realized all the boxes were gone. I walked over to the sitting room and looked around in shock. Everything was put in place and there wasn't a box to be seen. I turned and walked into the living room to see the same.

The TV hung on the wall above the fireplace, and on the mantle were photos in frames along with little nick nacks and candles. I reached up and touched the glass bottle that held a boat Henry had purchased for Killian when we first moved in.

My stomach growled as the scent got stronger and my feet carried me into the dining room. I stopped and let out a gasp of shock. The dining room table was covered in red rose petals along with a beautiful bouquet in the middle and two lit candles on either side of it. The table was set for two and my brain finally registered the soft music playing in the background.

A single red rose appeared before me and I bit my lip to hide my smile. "Happy Valentine's Day, love."

Killian leaned in from behind me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I took the rose and turned around to see him standing there in his usual blue buttoned down shirt and vest, minus the jacket.

"I thought you were working late."

He smirked. "I've told a couple little lies today."

I nodded my head and looked around the room. "I see that. Did you unpack everything your self?" Killian reached up and scratched the back of his ear. "Your father may have helped a little."

My eyes went wide. "I had lunch with him today."

"I know, he left here to go and I finished the rest." "And the food?"

Killian's eyes went up the same way they did the night of our first date and he said, "Your mother left when you said you were on your way. The lasagne should be done in about an hour."

I crossed my arms. "So everyone was in on it?"

He put his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him.

"Don't try and play mad. I know about your little ploy to have me not know about the day, and no, they didn't tell me. No, you can thank Will Scarlet for that. He stopped by the library two days ago and asked me to talk Belle out of opening today so that he could spend it with her."

I rolled my eyes.

"When he explained to me what today was, Henry filled me in on your feelings toward it and the rest was me."

I pressed my lips together and raised my eyebrow. "So you figured we'd celebrate anyway?"

Killian kissed my forehead. "I know you, Swan. You're not one for public displays of my affection. I knew you didn't want to be paraded with tokens, but something just for us, in our home, you wouldn't mind that."

I reached up and played with his necklace.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._

He really did know me.

"Killian, this is perfect. Thank you."

I stood up on my toes and we shared a soft kiss. When we pulled away, I pouted. "I don't have anything for you."

He chuckled. "Emma, you've already given me your heart. What else is there that you could possibly give me?"

It was then an idea formed in my mind.

"You said the dinner with be ready in about an hour?" He raised his eyebrow. "Aye."

I lifted my arms and wrapped them around his neck. "Well then, captain. I think I do have something for you then."

He licked his lips and pulled me even closer. When our lips were meters apart I spoke. "Give me five minutes."

I pulled away slowly and his head followed mine as he tried to steal a kiss. I gave him a smirk and ran up the steps. The bag Felicity had given me when we left New York was in the back of the closet where I had hidden in, untouched. I planned on breaking it out next Halloween as a surprise but it seemed like it would be better suited for that moment.

It didn't take me long to get changed even with my heart pounding so hard, I thought it was going to pound right out of my chest. I put the hat on my head and checked the mirror. With a smirk, I waved my wrist and the last thing I needed, his hook, minus the brace, appeared in my left hand.

Even if Killian didn't like the cartoon version of himself, I knew he appreciated the Halloween costume I had worn.

My stomach fluttered with butterflies as I made my way back downstairs to find Killian in front of the fireplace stoking the fire. His back was to me and it made it even more perfect.

"I don't know about you..." I started.

Killian turned and his jaw dropped. The poker fell from his hands and his eyes raked up and down my body from his kneeled position. My skin felt like it was on fire.

"But I think the real hook makes this a whole lot better."

He remained silent as I put my hands on my hips. I watched as he gulped and his Adam's apple bobbed before he stood up. The smirk stayed on my face and he took a step forward.

"Is that..."

I shrugged. "Just a Captain Hook costume I wore years ago."

His eyes turned hungry and he smirked. "I take back everything I said about that film." I held back my laugh and he took another step forward.

"What do you say, Hook," I lifted his silver appendage up. "Want to show me how to use it properly?"

His lips were on mine before the last syllable even left my mouth and he carried me to our couch, in our living room, in our house we shared together.

Valentine's Day was a day to show the person you loved how much you loved them, traditionally it was by gifts of flowers, heart shaped candy, or teddy bears.

But Killian and I didn't need any of those things, we showed each other we loved each other each and every day we were together. And it all boiled down to one simple reason...

We never were ones for tradition.


End file.
